The New Shepard
by Writingnoob101
Summary: In the year 2219, the war rages on the Terminus System. Commander William Shepard is sent to end the war. Can he do his task? Rate T for violent and language Disclaimer: Mass Effect and its characters belong to Bioware and EA. Edited by Lady Amiee Krios.
1. After the Reaper

Prologue: After the Reapers

After Commander Shepard activated the Crucible and used it to destroy the Reapers, the galaxy changed so much. This is the new look of the whole galaxy after the Reaper.

**Commander Shepard**: After he activated the Crucible to destroy the Reapers, he survived and his body fell into the Citadel. He spent three days struggling to survive before the rescue team found him unconscious and bleeding. The rescue team brought him to the nearest hospital on Earth, where Shepard awoke three weeks later after the Reaper were defeated.

Commander Shepard went to a commendation ceremony and received many awards, and was promoted into the rank of Admiral. In 2187 he married Ashley Williams and she gave birth to his only son, William in 2189. He continued to serve the Alliance until he retired in 2214. After his retirement he went to live on the new Arcturus Station with his family.

**The Alliance**: The Alliance quickly recovered after the Reapers were defeated, rebuilding most of their ranks after suffering many casualties at Arcturus Station, to Second Fleet, etc.

But there are many things that the Alliance couldn't bring back, such as the Crucible. The Crucible permanently shut down after Commander Shepard had activated it. So, the Alliance placed the smaller version Crucicle on Earth and used it as a war memorial.  
Earth became the hub of the galaxy thanks to the transportation beam left by the Reapers.

**Admiral Hackett**: Was elected to the Minister of Defense in 2188, and he continued to serve the Alliance until he retired in 2194 and he return to his home city, Buenos Aires.

**The Mass Relay**: The Mass Relays were shut down immediately after the Crucible released its energy. Fortunately, the Crucible's energy only damaged the Mass Relays' "Ring" and the spaceships across the galaxy easily recovered them.

The scientists with the fleet gathered on the Citadel and spent a few days learning about the Mass Relays and quickly gathered enough information to understand them. The engineers and the scientists from all species started to repair the Charon Relay and other relays across the galaxy. With the comm buoy still intact and the controlling VI still active, the communication between star systems made repairing the relays easy.  
The Relay network returned to the normal condition in two weeks after the Reapers were defeated.

**The Citadel and the Council**: After the Reapers were defeated, the Citadel remained intact and people survived, included the Council. The Council re-established the government but the Citadel being permanently placed in Earth's atmosphere forced The Council to move their office into the Alliance territory.

So the Alliance and the Council solved the territory problem by making the Citadel a special territory of its own known as Citadel Space; just like the Vatican back on Earth.  
Now the Citadel and Earth link together by the transportation beam left behind on Earth.

**The Krogan**: After the war, Urdnot Wrex united the krogan clans and established the Krogan Commonwealth. Wrex and other krogan clan leaders rebuilt Tuchanka together.

By 2190 the krogan finally had their own embassy on the Citadel and later, in 2195, the krogan finally gained a Council seat on the Citadel; becoming one of the strongest races in the galaxy.

**The Quarians** and the Geth: After the Reapers were defeated, the geth were destroyed along with them and sorrow was brought to all quarians. Without the geth, the quarians established their government on Rannoch and expanded their territory to the west of the Terminus System.

In 2192 the quarians gained the Council seat on the Citadel and later, in 2196 after ten years of trial and error, they revived the geth, but all of their memory was gone; due to the energy pulse shutting them down. Now the quarians are using the geth as a workforce but they never used them for combat again.

**Ashley Williams**: When Ashley and the crew heard the news of the rescue team finding Commander Shepard, she quickly rushed to Shepard's location. After Shepard recovered and went to the commendation ceremony, they both received their recognition and Ashley was promoted to the rank of Major.

Then, in 2187, Ashley married Shepard and later, in 2189 she gave birth to her only son, William. Ashley continued to serve in the Alliance with her husband and retired in 2218, she lived with Shepard on the new Arcturus Station.

**Joker and the Normandy**: When the Normandy had crashed on an unknown planet, Joker and the remaining crew spent two weeks repairing the ship. After repairs the Normandy flew back to Alliance Space.

After the crew heard the news about Shepard they quickly travelled to the hospital. Joker was the first person Shepard saw after the battle. Like the others, Joker received his awards and one of the highest a pilot could get; the Platinum North Star. He served the Alliance on the Normandy, until she was decommissioned in 2214 and now the ship is in the Space Flight Museum on Arcturus Station.  
Joker retired in 2215 and returned to live in his small house on Tiptree with his remaining family.

**Garrus Vakarian**: Later Garrus returned to Palaven and attended the turian version of a commendation ceremony where he received the highest medal of honor; the Golden Palaven Globe. He continued to serve the Hierarchy as Primarch Victus's military advisor. Later in 2202, he left the hard life of service and lived with his wife, Tali on Rannoch.

**EDI**: When the Crucible's energy wave was trying to "swallow" the Normandy, Joker knew it would harm EDI and her system. So, he forced EDI to go offline and controlled the Normandy himself. That's when the wave "swallowed" the Normandy and sent it crashing onto an unknown planet. After the crash the AI Core remained intact and EDI's body was also in one piece. So, after EDI came online again, she helped the other crews repair the Normandy.

Then the Normandy flew again returning through the Sol relay within a day. EDI continued to serve on the Normandy with Joker until the day it was decommissioned. EDI moved her Quantum Box to Joker's house on Tiptree and lived with his family as his lover.

**Tali'Zorah**: After the war, Tali returned to Rannoch and there she started her new life. She quit the job as Admiral and ambassador, to starther new life as a head scientist. She began working on her special project; the project that could revive the geth: Project VITA. She recruited many scientists from many species such as the quarians, humans, salarians, asari, etc. Her project succeed in 2196 when she revived the first geth with the others following closely behind; Now most are active and fully-functional aiding the Quarians in rebuilding.

Some quarians wanted to use the geth in combat but Tali refused. So, she removed most combat functions inside the geth and left only the defensive protocols. Some quarians didn't agree with her but as the overseer of the project, it was ultimately her decision. With her project complete she resigned and now lives with her turian husband, Garrus.

**Liara T'Soni**: When the war ended, Liara was secretly funded by the asari government to build a new Shadow Broker ship. In exchange, the asari government wanted to gain full access to her information for free. At first, Liara didn't agree but then the asari government changed the deal to gain access to information about the STG instead of all her information.  
Yesterday 10:03PM

Liara accepted the deal and the ship finished in 2188 then she moved her office from Normandy to her new base. Besides being the Shadow Broker, Liara continued to search for the Prothean's stasis pod like on Eden Prime. In 2194, Liara found a Prothean ruin with many intact stasis pods on the planet that the Normandy crashed landed on. She woke them up and then she brought them to the Citadel. Later she began to study the races that came before the Protheans such as the Inusanon, the Leviathans etc. Now she is a professor and teaches about ancient galaxy history at the Serrice University.

**Javik**: The Prothean went to Eden Prime with Liara to pay a respect to his brothers-in-arms. After saying goodbye, he drew a pistol and was going to pull the trigger to end his life. Fortunately, Liara convinced him to stay longer and he accepted. He agreed to stay alive for another 10 years, before he would join his comrades. In 2194, Liara found another stasis pods and she woke them up.

At first they were confused but Javik was there and explained the new galaxy to his fellow Protheans. Now the Protheans are back and Javik wants to live with his race and restore the Protheans to its former glory. Javik helps the fellow Protheans by helping Liara teach about Protheans' History in Serrice University.

**James Vega**: James -like his fellow soldiers- received many commendations and was promoted to the rank of Major. He received the N7 training and passed with one of the highest scores. He fought countless wars for the Alliance. Then, in 2198, James was promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Fifth Fleet and became a Spectre. He missed his combat life on the field but being an Admiral was perfect for him keeping him in the military and fighting for his race.

**Samantha Traynor**: After the war, Traynor left the Normandy and worked in a lab. She developed instant, long range communication. She spent some time studying the rachni and then she discovered that some methods the rachni use, can be adapted by other species too.

She invented the instant, long-range communication implant called "Nuntius" but found it works for human only; for now. Her implant helps the Alliance soldiers in their combat training and later in the field. Traynor now lives peacefully on her home planet Horizon.

**Steven Cortez**: After the war, Cortez left the military service and became a helmsman for the MSV Glory, the merchant freight. He served the Glory until 2199, the Glory was raided by pirates in the Terminus System. Cortez got to the escape pod landing on a uninhabitable planet. He spent half-a-year surviving and waiting for the rescue until the quarians found him and rescued him. He was sent back to Alliance space after two weeks of recovery. Now, he spends most of his time as a flight instructor on his home planet, Fehl Prime.

**Karin Chakwas**: Doctor Chakwas continued to serve on the Normandy until the day it was decommissioned. She returned to Mumbai University and became a professor and teaches about medical technology there.

**The Batarians**: Balak and his remaining forces returned to Khar'Shan after the war to restore the Hagemony. Under his rule, The Hagemony abolished slavery for the first time in the batarian's history. The batarians started to restore the relationship between the Citadel and between the Alliance. In 2188, The Hagemony reopened the Embassy on the Citadel and establishes the Batatrian Embassy on Earth. In 2214, the batarians gain a Council seat on the Citadel and the Hagemony becomes an ally of the Alliance and a proud member of the Council.

**Aria T'Loak**: Aria stayed on Omega after she retook it from Cerberus, changing Omega to the hub of the Terminus System. She united the scattered mercenaries, smugglers and pirates to her banner. In 2192, she established the relationship between the Council and the Alliance, making the Terminus faction one of the most powerful in the galaxy.

**The Rachni**: The rachni helped the galaxy to rebuild but later In 2200, they settled on the planet in the Nemean Abyss and now dissociate themselves from the rest of the galaxy.

**The Leviathans**: After the war, the Leviathans isolated themselves from the galaxy and no one ever saw them again.

**Miranda Lawson**: Miranda returned to Earth with her sister Oriena. There, she helped the Alliance research technology from the dead Reapers. She discovered many new technologies from them. Later, Miranda and Oriana become freelance scientists and live together happily on Earth.

**Jacob Taylor**: Jacob and his wife Brynn Cole help the Alliance rebuild Earth. In 2198, Jacob becomes the biotic trainer for the Alliance and lives on Earth happily with Brynn and his daughter, Shepard.

**Zaeed Massani**: Zaeed returned to the Terminus System and lived as a bounty hunter. In 2203, he retired and put his old memories behind him and lives in his home on Watson.

**Kasumi Goto**: Kasumi returned to the Terminus System and continued to be the galaxy's most famous thief. She still keeps Keiji's graybox with her at all the time, never forgetting her love.

**Jack**: After the war, Jack returned to the Grissom Academy with Kahlee Sanders and her students to reopen the Academy. In 2187, The Academy returns to its normal condition. Later, in 2199, Jack becomes the director of the school when Kahlee Sanders retired.

**Samara**: Samara helped Falare to rebuild the Ardat-Yakshi Monastery. In 2189, Samara returned to Thessia to help the remnant of justicars train a new generation. She spends most of her time training the Justicars on Thessia but she visits her daughter regularly in the Ardat-Yakshi Monastery on Kalini.

**Grunt**: Grunt returned to Tuchanka after the war and received many awards from Wrex. He became the Warlord and Wrex's second-in-command. Later, when Wrex and other krogan clan chiefs established the Krogan Commonwealth, he became the Minister of War of the Commonwealth and later, the first krogan Spectre.


	2. Prologue

Prologue: Dossier

A turian officer entered the office making the spectre look up from his data pad.

"Sir, we've got the new spectre candidate," the turian said with panicky sound to his voice as he saluted sharply.

"And what? That's not a surprise," the spectre said with a bored sigh.

"But this candidate is very interesting, sir. Here, take a look," the officer said and handing him a new datapad which he read silently.

* * *

Candidate's Dossier

**Full Name**: Lieutenant-Commander William Shepard

**Date of Birth**: 14 July 2187

**Age**: 32

**Class**: Soldier

**Pre-Service History**: Spacer: Son of Admiral John Shepard and Major Ashley Williams. Spent most of his childhood on spaceships and lived on the Citadel. Enlisted to the Alliance at the age of 19.

**Psychological Profile**: War Hero: 2200: Benning Civil War: His squad had been deployed to Joughin, Benning's capital, to evacuate civilians but rebels were already in the city. His squad quickly headed to the populated zones and protected the civilians until the Fifth Fleet arrived and repelled the rebels away.

**Personal Traits**: Quick-tempered, loyal, trustworthy.

**Note**: His loyal attitude makes him suitable for working in small team but his quick-tempered trait and political opinion could be problematic when talking politics with the high-ranking officers.

* * *

"Hhmm... Very interesting. He's got many traits from his father... and his mother from the looks of this. Let's just hope he has got his combat skills from his father too," the Spectre said returning the datapad to the officer and standing up.

"Where are you going, sir?" the officer asked with a frown.

"I'm going to observe his mission myself," the Spectre said with a serious voice.

He quickly left the room and the Citadel to make his way to the Arcturus Station.


	3. Reassignment

Chapter 1: Reassignment

Alliance Command Center, Arcturus Station 2200 Hours.

"Damn, I'm late again," he growled to himself loudly, while he walked through the command center. Upon entering the command room he saluted sharply to the officers.

"You're five minutes late, Lieutenant-Commander!" the Admiral in the Alliance blue uniform shouted at him, just like he had a few hundreds times before.

"Sorry, Admiral Vega. I came as fast as I could," he apologized quickly.

"Never mind, let's start this meeting." The Admiral said calmly.

"Excuse me, Admiral, but who is this young gentleman?" one of the officers asked.

"This is Lieutenant-Commander William Shepard. His squad will be deployed on this mission with us, Rear Admiral," Admiral Vega answered crisply.

"Shepard? Oh my God! Is that really him? _The_ Admiral Shepard's son?" the Rear Admiral exclaimed stairing at William.

"Yes, if you don't have any more question then we will start this 'urgent' meeting."

The meeting started and the Admiral began to present the current war situation.

"As you can see, the Terminus System has been divided into three powerful factions. First is the Terminus Enclave, leading by Gregori Azorav, the most powerful human crime lord in the Terminus and the Alliance's Most Wanted," Vega said clicking a computing device to change the image on the screen.

"He's gathered mercenaries and pirates from across the Terminus and formed the Enclave to the east of the system. His target is to unify the Terminus, and annex the Council Space and the Alliance to his empire. He has already started by attacking the center of the Terminus," the Admiral continued, now putted a picture of Omega on the screen.

"The second faction is the Aria's Loyalists, they're the mercenaries, smugglers and pirates that loyal only to Aria. The Loyalist's base of operation is the Omega station. As we know Aria retook it from Cerberus and turned it into the massive space fortress in the middle of the Terminus. Since the war ended, Aria never seemed to be planning to attack neiter the Council Space nor the Alliance," he said looking around to make sure the officers were following him.

"So, we will help the Loyalist fight the Enclave," he finished put the Rannoch image on the screen.

"The third is the Quarian Republic. The Quarians established their government and conquered most the west of the Terminus after the Reapers were defeated. Recently the Enclave initiated the assault on the Omega, just one day after the Quarian and the Loyalist formed the alliance," Vega said with a frown.

"Tomorrow the Fifth Fleet and our brand new Ninth and Tenth Fleet will be deploy to Omega and help the Loyalists repel the Enclave. Any question?" the Admiral asked closing his recital.

"Ah, Admiral, do we have any intel about the Council's movement?" William asked.

"Our intel reported that the Salarian Union already sent the STG to the Terminus and helped the quarians but the others are standing idle. They will feel the heat soon if the Enclave wins this war," he said to William before turning to the room, "Everyone dismissed. Commander, meet me in my office. We need to talk, privately," the Admiral said waving a dismissive hand to the room and leaving to go to his office.

William followed his Admiral to his office behind the command room.

"Sit down, Commander, it won't be long but I want you to be comfortable." Admiral pointed his hand to the chair in front of him. William sat down and questioned his Admiral.

"What do you need, Admiral?" he asked curiously.

"Tomorrow you will be reassigned to the Tenth Fleet as a new Excecutive Officer on the SSV Sparta. Understood? " the Admiral explained.

"What about my squad?" William asked with a worried frown.

"Don't worry, your squad will be serving aboard the Sparta too."

"Can you tell me more about the SSV Sparta?" William queiried.

"The SSV Sparta is the Sparta-Class cruiser, our newest cruiser class. The ship's cannons, both main gun and broadside cannons are armed with Thanix Cannon Mark II. The shield is the Cyclonic Barrier and last but not least the ship's armor is the Silaris Armor Mark IV base on the Reaper's Armor. This ship is one of the most powerful cruisers we've ever made. Captain André Dupont, the ship's CO will explain more when you get there, you don't have much time to say goodbye to the ones you love. We will depart at 0200 hour, so be on time and don't late again. We will not wait for any late comers. " the Admiral said calmly.

"Aye, aye. Sir." William said with a confused voice before saluting and leaving the Admiral in his office.

Room 2510 ,Commander Shepard's Apartment, Residential District, Arcturus

Station, 2300 Hours.

William went to his parent's house on the residential district. He knocked the door and waited for someone to open the door and greet him.

"William? Ah how lovely, come, come in. How are you doing?" the old Shepard greeted him.

"Fine, dad. But I can't stay long. I'm going to the frontline soon," William answered following his father into the living room. The room was nice and warm so he sat on the couch with his father.

"Where are you going, Will." Shepard asked softly.

"Terminus System, Omega if you want the specifics of the place. Oh, I almost forget. How's mom doing?"

"I'm fine, dear. Actually I'm the one who should ask you. Are you alright?" Ashley asked as she walked down from the stairs.

"Mom! Oh, I'm fine, very fine. I'm eager to be out on the field again." William answered with a grin.

Sitting on the couch with his family William's face suddenly turned white. He turned to his father and asked a serious question, "Dad, do you ever reassign your crew member without a reason?"

"Hmm, I never reassigned my crew without a reason but sometimes I didn't tell them why," Shepard answered with a curious look to William.

"Why did you ask this, son?" Ashley queried.

William moved closer to his mother and answered, "I met with my Admiral and he said that I'm being reassigned to the new ship. He didn't tell me a reason why. He just told me basic ship information and blah blah blah. So, I think that he must have a bad reason behind it all," William said with a little tremor in his tone.

Shepard moved to William and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Listen Will, I know Vega well and he is just like the other Admirals. He won't reassign you with bad reason. So, there's no reason to be paranoid."

William sat still for a moment before checking his omni-tool and saying,"Sorry, dad but I've got to go now. I need to meet my squad before midnight."

"Then go, my son. Good luck out there." Shepard replied.

"May God protect you, Will," Ashley blessed her son.

Before William left the house, he turned his head to Shepard and said goodbye to him with a handshake.

"Bye, mom. Bye, dad and... Thanks for your answer," he called as he headed to the space port.

Docking Bay F10,Arcturus Space Port.

Arcturus Station 0150 Hour.

"Are you sure we're on the right bay, Commander?" Joshua one of William's squad asked.

"Yeah, Docking Bay F10. The docking place of the Sparta, our new ship." William replied with a shrug.

On the other side of the window, a colossal, metallic ship was docked outside the space port. Its main gun, a long tube, tipped with blue light from Thanix made the Sparta even more charming.

"She's beautiful, isn't it?" Alexandra one of William's squad said in stunningly.

* * *

Paladin Squad was the N7 special squad to deal with the hardest mission in the galaxy. The first member is Commander William Shepard, the squad's commander. The other members are Staff Lieutenant Joshua Plank as a squad's second-in-command and the tactician, Operation Chief Alfronzo Ferino, the biotic adept. 2nd Lieutenant Jerome Wood, the tech engineer. Gunnery Chief Alexandra Fitzwalter, the soldier and last but not least, Service Chief Lee Hun Nim, the newest member and the sniper.

* * *

Suddenly the man in the Alliance crew uniform moved and stood in front of William and greeted him.

"I presume you're Commander William Shepard and the Paladin Squad?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes, I'm Commander William Shepard and this is Paladin Squad... And you?" William replied smartly.

"My name is Ensign Karl Klingemann. I'm the Sparta's yeoman. Captain Dupont sent me to welcome you or guide you if you ever get lost. Now please follow me," Karl said, leading the squad through the docking tube then stopping at the airlock.

"Stand by, shore party. Decontamination in progress," the VI ordered as it scanned the team, once clean the airlock opened and William saw Captain Dupont stood in front of them.

"Bonjour, Commander. Welcome aboard to the Sparta. It's a pleasure to work with N7 soldiers!" Captain Dupont said with his French accent and a salute.

"It's good to work aboard the Alliance's best vessel too, Captain," William said returning the salute sharply.

With the greetings made Captain Dunpont said, "It seems like you're new to this ship. I will give you a ship tour. So, please follow me."

After the ship tour, the last room that Captain Dupont showed to William was his quarters. He entered the room with Captain Dupont when suddenly Captain Dupont whispered in his ear, "Meet me in my quarters. You need to meet someone."

Later William entered Captain Dupont's quarters and saw Captain Dupont and a turian talking softly.

"Ah, Commander. This is Major Tanis Kalius, the Hierarchy's best Cabal soldier and a Spectre," he introduced the turian.

"A Spectre? What is he doing here in the Alliance's ship?" William asked confused.

"Let him answer that, Commander," the Captain replied.

"Commander, on this ship there's the person who is a Spectre candidate and I'm here to observe his mission," the Spectre answered quickly.

"A Spectre candidate? Who?" William asked curiously.

"You. The Spectre candidate is you, Commander." He answered with the turian equivilant of a smile.

William stood still for a while before he asked the Spectre, "Are you sure about that?" He asked.

Major Tanis handed the datapad to William and he read it for a moment,"What do I need to do?" William asked after he finished.

"We will brief you on the mission when we get to the Omega. Now you can go back to your quarters. Bonne nuit, Commander," Captain Dupont said dismissing him.

William returned to his room and sat on his bed, "So, that's why Admiral Vega reassigned me. Huh, I really need to rest." William said to himself as he lay down and fell asleep.


	4. Escort

Chapter 2: Escort

Command Room, CIC, SSV Sparta, Omega Orbit, 0420 Hours.

"This is worse than we thought," Captain Dupont said as he viewed the battle overview.

The metallic door opened as William came into the room to look at the screen. The hologram showed the overview of the battle. The Loyalist's fleet had already fled from the battlefield and left Omega unprotected, and the Enclave's fleet was moving to the station.

"What's the status, sir?" He asked after watching for a moment.

"The Enclave's force already breached the Omega but they only capture some parts so far. They're holding some hostages." the Major informed him quickly.

"Who are they?" William asked.

"The STG squad and Aria T'Loak. This is your mission, Commander: Find them and bring them back alive at all costs, understood?" Major Kulius finished.

"What about you, Major?" William asked.

"I'll use an alternative route, Commander. If you can reach the VIPs before me, I'll report to the Council that you are 'qualified' to be the spectre." the Major said with calm voice before leaving the room without a backwards glance.

"You better inform your squad about the mission. The fleets will engage soon," Captain Dupont said as he opened his omni-tool and uploaded the brief to William's omni-tool, "Here's your mission brief. Good luck out there, Commander."

William left the room and gathered his squad in his quarters to inform them about the mission.

"So, another high risk mission for the N7's huh?. Should be a piece of cake," Joshua said cockly.

"Don't underestimate your enemy, Josh. The Enclave's more dangerous than you think. Now, about our plan. Our VIPs are inside the club called 'Afterlife'. We need to be stealthy. This time we'll split into two teams. Sandra, Jerome and Josh will go with me. Alfronzo and Lee will take a high ground and give us fire support. Understood?" William barked authoritively.

"Aye, aye, Commander," the team said in unison.

The Alliance Fleets entered Omega's orbit and engaged the Enclave's fleets.

Meanwhile, TS-50 Pegasus shuttle left the Sparta's hangar and entered one of the Omega's hangars for Paladin Squad to disembark.

* * *

Route to Afterlife,Toma District,Omega 0500 Hours.

"This is it, Paladin. We _cannot_ fail in this mission. We _need_ to succeed this mission. Now let's finish this!" William cried, spurring them into battle.

The Paladin Squad split into two teams and made their way to the afterlife.

William's team advanced quietly until they arrived at the gate to the Afterlife. They saw five Enclave troopers in green armors and few CYLOPS heavy mechs guarding the door. The ground team took cover quickly and contacted Lee's team on the corridor.

"Team two, team one reporting. Do you have visual on hostiles?" he asked over his comm unit.

"Affirmative, team one. What's the order?" Lee responded.

"Scope the trooper in the middle. Alfronzo, prep your biotics; you're gonna use it soon. Wait for my signal," William ordered.

"Copy," Lee answered shortly.

Lee drew his M-99 Cross from his back and aimed at the trooper at the middle.

William turned and spoke to Jerome, "Jerome, deploy your turret and suppress the hostiles. Sandra, draw your missile launcher. We need to destroy those mechs. Josh, stay quiet, for now." William ordered.

Shortly Jerome deployed T-20 Mjollnir Turret and William contacted Team two.

"Lee, open fire in three... two... one!"

Lee pulled trigger. The bullets hit the soldier's face directly causing blood to spay and the Enclave's soldiers to panic. While the turret gave suppressive fire, William contacted Alfronzo.

"Lift em'up!" He shouted

Alfronzo's hands glowed purple from his biotics. He moved his hands up and brought the Enclave soldiers and the mechs floating in the air.

"Paladin! Open fire!" William shouted.

The rest of the squad fired at the floating soldiers quickly. The Paladin eliminated the hostiles and advanced to the Afterlife. Team one approached Afterlife's main gate while Team two entered to the upper level and covered them.

* * *

Afterlife, Omega, 0530 Hours.

"Team two, do you have a visual on the targets?"

"Affirmative, Team one. We have a visual. There are six guards in the room guarding an asari and four STG personels on the private lounge. But it doesn't make sense. They should guard them by more soldiers."

"Hhmm... Suspicious. Stay alert, Team two. This may be a trap."

"Copy that, Team one. Anything else?" Lee asked.

"My team will breach soon. Make them panic."

"Copy." He replied.

Shortly, the sound of a gun came from inside. Team one breached the main door and took cover.

"Who the hell are they?!" One of the Enclave soldier shouted.

"Just shoot them, damnit!" The batarian soldier replied angrily.

The Paladin killed most of the guards but suddenly the batarian guard ran to the private lounge and got to Aria and other hostages.

"Don't come closer or I'll shoot this whore!" he shouted as he drew his pistol and pressed at Aria's head. Her mouth was taped and she could only muffled. But her eyes were full of fury as William stared at her.

"Shit, we can't lose her," Joshua said quietly.

"Commander, do you want me to take him down?" Lee said through the comm.

"I'll try to talk him down first. If he won't listen to me then you're free to fire, just don't let the VIP down." William answered.

"Aye, I'll do my best." He replied

"OK, we won't come closer to you. So, kindly put your gun down, please." William started to persuade the batarian.

"No way! I know this asari and I know what will happen if I pull the trigger. Your Admiral will be very angry if I do that." He said cruelly.

"Then pull it. We have the best sniper that can kill you in a second if you pull the trigger. Beside the Alliance fleets are already here and our troops will come and push your forces back. There's no way you can win this. Let her go and we'll spare you" William said confidently.

The batarian stood quietly for few second before he dropped his gun and released Aria, "Arrg! You win, human. I'm leaving. I hope we won't meet again." The batarian said before he ran downstairs and left Afterlife. William walked to Aria and set her loose while the other freed the STG.

"Thanks for helping me, soldier. Mind if I ask your name?" Aria asked.

"I'm Commander William Shepard, Alliance Navy."

"Shepard? So, you're his son, aren't you?"

"Yes, my father is the famous Admiral Shepard. How did you end up like this?"

"The Enclave Fleet moved quickly and we weren't ready. While I was planning to counterattack, the Enclave commandos came and killed my bodyguards. I was going to use my biotics but one of the commando used the stun gun. I woke up again and you know the rest."

"What about the salarians?" William asked

"Dunno, I woke up and saw them being tied."

"We're here to bring you out, Aria T'Loak. We would have succeeded if the Enclave hadn't captured us," one of the salarians replied tiredly.

"Hhmp, so the famous STG squad comes here to rescue a pirate queen like me? How lovely." Aria said with a sneer. She then stood up, look at an Enclave's corpse before spit to the corpse. "Fuck them. They dared to invade my palace, I'll make sure they get suitable pay back."

"Calm down, think of revenge later. You have to leave for your own sake."

"Fuck my sake. I cannot sleep until the Enclave are gone from my Omega!"

"Aria, You need to leave. The Alliance are here and I can guarantee that the Enclave will be repelled from the Omega."

Aria stood quietly awhile before replied William "Huh, you have point, I'll leave but I need to take care of my people myself, not the Alliance."

Meanwhile, Joshua was talking with the salarian, talking about the mission.

"Who are you exactly?" Josh asked.

"Name's Captain Fipsos Zanox, STG operative. The others are my squad," He answered.

"Can't believe that the best STG operatives will get caught by a common soldier."

"We were 'careless' about the hostile. We didn't know that the soldiers will come with a stun gun," Captain Zanox replied.

Shortly, Team two came down from the upstairs and regrouped with Team one.

"Commander, we haven't found anything suspicious on the upstairs. No camera, no turret, no booby trap." Alfronzo reported.

"What? That's doubtful. Something's wrong here." William said as he tried to contact Major Kulius,

"Major, do you read me? I rescued the hostages. What's your location?" But nothing replied William's hail. He tried to contact him again but nothing happened.

"What's wrong, Commander?" Josh asked.

"I'm tried to contact…" Suddenly the main gate exploded and the smoke filled the main floor of Afterlife. Shortly, the legion of Enclave soldiers entered and took aim at William's team. A human in green, hi-tech, well-decorated armor walked in front of the Enclave troops, leading a bound turian with him.

"Major!?" William shouted.

"Well, well, the best Spectre from the Council is in my hand now. I could shoot you now and leave you to rot… but you can be my 'bargain chip'. Give me Aria now or you'll get him as a corpse," The man said and pointed the M-910 Tormentor Heavy Pistol at Major's head.

"Who the hell are you?" William asked him

"You don't know me? Really? Huh, I'll give you a hint. I swore to my father's body that I will crush the Council and I will complete my father's wish. So, I gathered the outlaws and pirates that hate Aria and found this Enclave. Ring any bells?"

"Gregori Azorav?" William said shocked.

"Correct. Now give me the asari or I'll shoot him!" He shouted angrily.

"No, you can't let him take her!" Major Kulius shouted to William.

"Shut the hell up!" Azorav shouted angrily.

He turned back to Major Kulius and put his pistol in the Major's mouth. Suddenly William shot his assault rifle at Azorav's right arm then his pistol fell from his hand. Major Kulius ran from Azorav and took cover near William.

"What the fuck are you waiting for? Kill them. Kill them all!" Enclave troops opened fire shortly after he shouted and the battle began.

"Major, that was close." William said to the Major.

"Ah, spirits. Can you get this shackle off my hands?" said the Major.

"At once." William replied and released the Major's hands

"Good, now the only problem is how we can get the hell out of here when the hostiles are shooting at us?" Josh asked.

"Good question. If anyone has any ideas, we need them immediately." William replied.

"I have," Captain Zanox said quickly

"What's your idea?" Alexandra asked.

"Aria should be able to use her biotics to knock Enclave at the same time, one Commander's soldier will use a heavy weapon to push them."

"My missile launcher can do the job." Alexandra said.

"My turret can help with that, too," Jerome said.

"Good, then Aria will use her biotics to push them away and in the confusion we'll get to the lower level and the Commander will lead us to his shuttle."

Shortly Alexandra grabbed her ML-199 Frostbite Missile Launcher and aim at Enclave soldiers on the left flank. Jerome's turret fired rapidly at the soldiers on the right flank. The Enclave soldiers slowly walked backward. Suddenly, Aria's hands glowed purple and released her powerful biotics and pushed the Enclave soldiers back and knocked some of them down.

"Now, run to the lower level!" Captain Zanox shouted.

Paladin Squad, STG squad and Aria ran to lower level quickly without taking more hits.

"Fools, all of you! How can you let them escape!" one of the Enclave officer shouted.

"Don't shout at my boys, officer. If they escaped, let them go. I have another 'bargain chip' waiting. Let's go, boys. Our fleets need to leave this place immediately."

Hangar C-101, Omega, 0630 Hours.

Holy Shit!" Josh shouted when he saw the hangar.

The whole hangar was very dirty and scrap metal lay scattered around. The shuttle was still mostly intact.

"I guess the fleet fired on the station and hit the hangar," Alexandra replied.

"Is the shuttle intact?" William asked.

"Let me scan our shuttle," Jerome put his omni-tool up and move his arm around the shuttle.

"What's the result?" Lee asked.

"There are good news and bad news. Good news is the shuttle is still intact."

"Bad news?" Alfronzo asked.

"Bad news is the shaft is damaged and it won't open until I repair it. I need some real metal not these pieces of junk."

Suddenly William spotted another shuttle. It came into the hangar and landed softly.

It wasn't the Alliance shuttle and no one knew who or what was inside. The shuttle opened, four quarian marines and one human in a blue uniform came out of the shuttle.

"Captain Dupont?"

"Oui, Commandant. I know you have a lot of questions in mind but I can answer only one right now. The quarian fleets are just arriving here and the Enclave fleets are routing from Omega. Omega is secure now but you all need to come with me."

Then Paladin, Aria, Major Kulius and STG squad got into the shuttle and left Omega. Soon, the shuttle boarded the flagship of the Tenth Fleet, SSV Mont Blanc.

Command Room, CIC, SSV Mont Blanc, Near Omega 0700 Hours.

After the shuttle arrived at the Mont Blanc, the STG team rested while Aria, Commander William Shepard, the Major and the Captain get to the CIC and entered the Command Room.

"Commander, this is Admiral Samuel Fisher and Admiral Thomas Kirkland, the Admiral of the Ninth and the Tenth Fleet. I don't need to introduce Admiral Vega, do I?" Captain Dupont introduced the Admirals.

"It's nice to meet all of you," William saluted

"Nice to meet you too, Commander" the Admirals saluted in return.

"And this is Admiral Rael'Gernan vas Faelok and Admiral Shina'Horel vas Ronos, the Admiral of the Quarian Fourth and Seventh Fleet."

"Pleased to meet both of you."

"It's please to meet Admiral Shepard's son, too," The Quarian Admirals said and saluted him.

"So, let's talk about the situation. As you can see, the Enclave fleets routed from Omega after Quarian fleets joined the battle but this battle is not the end. Our intel said that more Enclave fleets are on the way but our Miss T'Loak needs to leave," said Admiral Vega.

"What?!" Aria shouted.

"I'm sorry, but the Council just called all of the Council's allied leaders to meet in the War Summit at the Citadel. That includes you, too." Admiral Vega explained.

"Ah, but I need to make sure that Omega will not fall to the Enclave's hand."

"My fleet will guard this place," Admiral Fisher said.

"Our fleets will help you defend Omega, too." The quarian Admirals said.

"What about the rest of you." Aria asked.

"We want to help, too. But our fleets need to resupply at the Citadel."

"Arg, fine I go with you. But after this summit, I'll come back to Omega, immediately." Aria said before she left the room.

"So, what's next?" William asked Admiral Dupont.

"We can go back to the Sparta now. Our fleet will move in ten minutes."

"Affirmative." William said.

Then the Admiral and Paladin Squad return to the Sparta and then the Alliance Fleets moved to Mass Relay and disappeared.


	5. Renaissance

Chapter 3: Renaissance

Exclusive Officer's Quarter,Crew Quarter,SSV Sparta, Charon Relay, Sol System 1500 Hour

The Sparta and the fleets arrived at the Sol System and moved through planets of the system. Commander William Shepard was sat in his quarter and looked at the windows, thinking about the last battle. Suddenly, Josh entered his quarter and talked to him

"Commander, we're getting closer to the Citadel. We should prepare for our departure." Josh said

"What's the ETA?" William asked

"Half an hour." Josh said

"Good, I'll be there before you know it."

"You always said that." Josh said before he left the room.

While William was going to left his room. Suddenly, William heard some noise behind him.

"Well, I think I should come here and thank you for saving my ass." Major Kulius appeared as his infiltration cloak worn off.

"Don't mention it, sir. But how can you get here undetected?" William asked

"You just need some tricks." the Major answered

"And the infiltration cloak." William replied

"Ha, precisely." the Major laughed

Docking Bay C-12, Citadel, 1530 hour

William came out of the airlock and stepped to the floor of the docking bay with his team.

"Commander, can you tell me the task again?' Lee asked

"I'm going to meet the President, Admiral Vega, the Councilor and the Ambassador at the Human Embassy. Admiral Vega will inform our next move."

"Understood." Lee replied

The Paladin moved to the elevator. William pushed the close button then the elevator door closed.

Ambassador's Room, Human Embassy, Citadel 1545 Hour

William entered the Ambassador's room. He saw Admiral Vega talking with Prime Minister Giovanni Bianco, Councilor Henry Lockhart and Ambassador Karl Schmidt. Shortly Admiral Vega noticed him and turned his head to William

"Ah Commander, glad you're here. This is Prime Minister Giovanni Bianco, the Alliance's leader. This is Ambassador Karl Schmidt, the human Ambassador on Citadel. And this is Councilor Henry Lockhart, the Human Councilor on the Citadel. Mister President, Ambassador, Councilor, this is Commander William Shepard, the Paladin Squad's leader." Admiral Vega introduced them

"It's an honor to meet all of you, Prime Minister, Councilor, Ambassador." William saluted

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Commander. Especially when you're going to be the Spectre" the Councilor shook William's hand

"Admiral, you said that you have my squad a duty."

"Yes, an important duty. Our important politicians are all here on the Citadel today and it's very risky for them to being assassinated or kidnapped. So, we trusted you and your squad to be the personal bodyguard for them." Admiral Vega said

"Assassinated? What's this all about?"

"There is an Intel that said there are mercs being hired by the Enclave to kidnap or assassinate the galactic leaders and the Council in the Summit. I told the Council and they already prepare more guards from C-Sec to protect them but I don't think it is enough. So, I told the Council to approve the personal bodyguards for each leader with in the conference room and they approves. So, I need you and your team to be the personal bodyguards." Councilor Lockhart said

"Alright, fill me the detail." William said

"The Council allows only 2 bodyguards for each nation's leader inside. So, you need to choose one of your squad to get inside with you." Councilor Lockhart explained

"Affirmative, then I will tell the rest of my squad to patrol outside." William replied

"Excellent, you know your job. So, get to it." Admiral Vega said

After the meeting, William left the room and regroup with his squad outside the Embassy.

"Commander, what's the order?" Josh said

"Paladin listen, we're going to get inside the summit..."

"Wow, inside the summit? So, we are gonna meet the Council, right?" Lee excitedly said

"Whoa, calm down, Lee. We can get only two men in here. So, I'll choose the best person with me… Sandra, you're in." William chose Alexandra

"Copy." She replied

"Good, the rest will patrol outside the Summit area. If you found anything suspicious, contact me or Admiral Vega."

"Aye, aye." The Squad said in unison

Conference Room, Ministry of Defense, Presidium, Citadel 1630 Hour

The Council and the leaders of the allied nation entered the conference room. There were a lot of leaders from each race in the room included the Council, President Urdnot Wrex of Krogan Commonwealth, Primarch Avitus Victus, the Turian Hierachy's Primarch and son of Primarch Adrien Victus, Dalatrass Folia Linron, the Salarian Union leader and the decendant to Dalatrass Linron(2186), President Shalia T'Poles, the Asari Republics's President. Premier Dontos Tokok, the Batarian Hegemony's leader. President Polia'Raan vas Rannoch, President of Quarian Republic and daughter of Admiral Shala'Raan vas Rannoch. Prime Minister Giovanni Bianco from the Alliance and last but not least, Aria T'Loak of the Terminus System. After all leaders entered the Conference Room the Summit started.

"Welcome all leaders to the Summit. As you can see, the Terminus System led by Ms.T'Loak had a recent battle with the Terminus Enclave. Which means the Enclave is a threat to the Council and its allies. So, we need to find a solution to end this war. Either with peaceful way or aggressive way. After we got a report about the war, I,Councilor Tevos contacted the Enclave leader and tried to make my race to be a middleman in the negotiation. But he aggressively refused. He also refused about the peace negotiation. So, the Enclave refused the olive branch we tried to give then. We have to give something that the Enclave will not refuse, the sword. We have to end this in an aggressive way. But before we do that, we have to make sure that our friends will not oppose us. Do all of you agree if we declare war with the Enclave? Will all of you declare war with them and support us in this war?" Councilor Tevos, the asari Councilor said

"Councilor, Our race are ready to support you at any cost but my people will not like the war and they will cause some "troubles" if we declare war with them." Dalatrass Linron refused

"What's wrong with you, Dalatrass? Our race suffered a lot from the Enclave too. At this time we have to stand together, not just protect yourself. Do all of you remember the Reaper War? We won the war because we stand together, wasn't it? Now the galactic threat appears again and we don't know what will they use against us. So, we have to stand together if we need to win this war." President Polia'Rann said as fast as her helmet light could followed.

"President Raan is right. I can remember the Reaper War and its madness. Now we're at war again and we must stand together. (sigh) If Shepard is here, the things will get more easy." Urdnot Wrex commented

" We don't need Admiral Shepard to calm this room, President Urdnot. If our Dalatrass would stop whining and say yes about the support, this Summit will end in a good way." Primarch Avitus Victus said.

"Dalatrass, your men are the best in "stealthy matters". If you don't want to make your citizens panic, so don't declare war with them. Just sends your STG agents as the war asset is enough, right?" Aria said

"Damn it, alright, we will send our best STG agents to the war. But we won't declare war with the Enclave." The Dalatrass said

After an argument, the Summit went smoothly and nicely. Most of the races agreed to declare war with the Enclave and all races agreed to send their troops and assets to the war.

"Thank you, everyone. After this Summit we hope that every races will prepare and ready to go to wa..." Councilor Lockhart said before the lights went off

Suddenly the lights in the Conference Room went off. The entire room was in panic. Shortly the lights came back again but something was missing.

"Where's our datapad?" Councilor Tevos shouted

"Damn, this datapad contains a lot of sensitive information includes this Summit's conversations. If it gets to an enemy hands, they will know all of these information." Councilor Vulgus Nazarius, the turian councilor said.

"Sandra, can you take care of the Prime Minister for awhile? I need to get the datapad back."

"Copy, I'll do my best."

Then William left the room and rushed to outside. When he got outside he saw a tall, blond hair, human holding a datapad and running very quickly. William quickly ran to the man and the chasing begun.

"Stop now or I'll shoot you!" William shouted while he rushing and tackling people around him

"NEVER!" the man shouted back

Then William contacted his team.

"Paladin, anybody have a visual on the man I'm chasing?" he asked

"Commander, Lee's here. I have a visual on him from a high ground." Lee replied quickly

"Good, I'll try take him down first. He is running to the Link Beam. If he gets there we'll lose him. Shoot his leg if he get to the Beam." William explained his plan to Lee

"Affirmative." Lee replied

Then William grabbed his P-45 Pugio Heavy Pistol from his side and aimed at the man.

"Stop your legs now or I'll make them stop myself!" William shouted to the man.

The man turned and shot his pistol several times at William but William's kinetic barrier protected him from the shot. William shot at his leg a few times but missed.

"Damn, Lee, shoot him, now!" William said

Then Lee shot the man's legs. The shot hit the legs directly and made him laid down to the ground. William walk to the man and grabbed him up.

"I'll ask you nicely for this time only. Who hires you and what does your boss wants"

"The...Enclave. They hired me and... told me to steal some critical information about the... Council's movement or kidnap of them." the man said slowly and repetitiously

"You'll pay for that, asshole." William said angrily before he took the datapad from his hand.

Suddenly, Paladin Squad came to William with a squad of C-Sec. Joshua walked through the crowd and get to William.

"Let C-Sec handle the rest, Commander. The Council would like to have an audience with you, now." Joshua said

William stood up and walked away from the man silently.

Council's Chamber,Citadel Tower, Citadel 1730 Hours

The elevator opened and William left the elevator. He met with Major Kulius, Admiral Vega, Ambassador Schmidt and Captain Dupont

"Commander, the Council is waiting for you." the Major said

"Major, can you return this datapad to the Council?" William asked

"Of course. " He took the datapad fro William's hand

"Now follow me."

William followed the Major to the Petitioner's Stage. The Council was there and preparing to make William to be a Spectre.

"Commander Shepard, your effort for our course is huge. First you save one of our allied from the hands of an enemy. Second, you save our secret and critical information from the enemy hands." the asari councilor said

"We can see no better reward than granting you a Spectre status that suits you." Councilor Saliz Dehnas, the salarian Councilor said

Then the Council tapped at their consoles and begun the Spectre's Initiation Rite.

"Commander William Shepard, step forward." the asari councilor said

Shortly a lot of people stared at William and then a lot of sound came from the people around him but he could still focus on the Council and stepped forward.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactic and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel." the asari Councilor said

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file" the salarian councilor said

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instrument of our will." Councilor Urdnot Tazil, the krogan councilor said

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." the turian councilor said

"You are now a Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your family. Especially your father. Congratulations" Councilor Lockhart said

"I'm honored, Councilor." William replied

"We're sending you into the Terminus. Your objective is to end this war as fast as you can. You are authorized to use any means necessary to end this war." Councilor Gaves'Leron vas Rannoch, the quarian councilor said

"I'm ready to do this." Said William

"We hope so, Commander. We will send all of the dossiers and file about the war to Ambassador Schmidt immediately." Councilor Terak Gavok, the batarian councilor said.

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned." asari Councilor said before the Council left the area

Shortly after the Council left, Major Kulius came to William and congratulated him.

"Congratulations, and welcome to the Spectre, Commander." Major Kulius shook William's hand

"Congratulations too, Commander. But it's not a time for celebration. We have a lots of works to do. You're gonna need a ship, crews, weapons, supplies. Don't mention the full list." Ambassador Schmidt said

"You'll get access to fancy Spectre stuffs, Commander. You'll have your own office, special equipment and weapons. You should check your new office before you leave, Commander." Admiral Vega said

"Admiral, come with me. I needs your help to set all this up." Ambassador Schmidt said

Then Admiral Vega and Ambassador Schmidt left the area.

"You should check your office, Commander. Its location should come to your omni-tool now." Captain Dupont said

Then William tapped his omni-tool and check the maps. He found the new NavPoint to his office next to Human Embassy.

"Got it. It's located next to Human Embassy."

"So, that must be your father's office before." Major Kulius said

"My dad's office? Wow, dad is gonna surprise about that." William said excitedly

"Good, if you're ready. Meet me and your squad at the Sparta's docking bay. I have something to show you."

William left the Citadel Tower and headed to his new Spectre Office.

Spectre Office, Human Embassy, Citadel 1830 Hour

William entered to his office but suddenly he heard the male voice from his head.

"Greetings, Commander. I'm Ultimate Defense Intelligence or you can call my short name, UDI. I'm here to guide you about your office. First of all, after you enter the office and after you go through the hallway. You will meet the…"

"Wait! How can you contract me and where are you?" William asked curiously

"I'm contracting you through your Nuntius. Don't worry, our conversation cannot be overhear. And about my location, it is inside the "Project Renaissance"." UDI said

"What is "Project Renaissance"?" William asked

"It is forbidden for me to speak about the project."

"OK, one last question and you can go on. Are you an AI?"

"Yes, I'm true AI. "

"Alright, go on."

"As you can see, you will see the Spectre Terminal. This is the place where the vital information about your mission and the decision about the war will store. On the right side of the Terminal is the Spectre Requisition. You can buy anything that the Spectre needs from here. You can check the store directly from this terminal. On your left is the Comm Terminal. You can contact anyone you want from here." UDI explained

"Good, anymore thing I need to know?" William asked

"Yes, On your right is the Firing Range. You can practice your weapons in here. You can also change your inventory via the weapon locker and your armor via armor locker."

"So, this is all I need to know about this place?"

"Yes, I hope you enjoy your new status, Commander. We shall meet again soon. Goodbye." UDI said before he left

William was a bit puzzled. But after he checked his new office he left his office and headed to the Sparta's docking bay.

Docking Bay C-12, Citadel, 1900 Hour

William left the elevator and headed to the Passenger Lounge. He met with his squad and Captain Dupont.

"Captain, you said that you will show me something, where is it?" William asked

"Whoa, calm down, Commander. The things I'm going to show you is not in here. We need to use spaceship to get there. Follow me."

Shortly they got to the Sparta and the ship left the Citadel. Shortly, the Sparta went through the Charon Relay and then disappeared.

Minuteman Station, Horse Head Nebula 2000 Hour

The Sparta arrived at Minuteman Station, ex-Cerberus facility. Shortly William and Captain Dupont arrived at the station and entered to the Glass Room.

"Captain, where are we at and what are you going to show me?" William asked curiosly

"This place is calls Minuteman Station, Commander. It was a Cerberus facility before the Reaper War. After the war, we captured this station and use it as our secret shipyard. The station's current work is a construction project of a prototype stealth frigate, code name "Renaissance"."

"Renaissance?" William asked

"Oui. Did you know that the word "Renaissance" means reborn in French." Captain said

"Yes, Captain."

"The project's main objective is to give a rebirth to a legendary ship, the Normandy. So, we use this code name to match the main objective."

"Normandy? My father's ship?"

"No, but you can say that this is the Normandy in the new body. The official name of the ship is SSV Normandy SR-3. This ship will be yours from now on."

Then the Normandy SR-3 slowly moved out of its dock and approached to William. Its metallic, gorgeous, black armor attracted William.

"Wow, she's the most beautiful ship I've ever seen. More beautiful than the SR-2." William commented

"Yes, and she's the fastest and the most advance ship. Armed with two Thanix cannons, the latest version that developed from the Reaper Capital Ship's main gun. She also has a newest Charcoal Armor, based from the Reaper Armor. And last but not least, the ship's shield uses the best Cyclonic Barrier that available. This is the best frigate in the Alliance, maybe the best in the whole galaxy. She also comes with the best planetary scanning tool and mining probes too."

Then Captain Dupont showed the Normandy internal layout via his omni-tool.

" As you can see, the SR-3 still uses the same design. There are 5 decks in the ship. The Captain's Cabin, CIC,Crew Deck, Engineering and the Shuttle Bay. Although there are something new. On the right of the old Normandy is use as a store house and we found that the room is completely useless. the Alliance keeps the Cerberus version of the Normandy. When we started the project we compared both version to find a perfect blend. We found that the ship's CIC has some space to add some rooms. We add the tech lab from Cerberus version instead of the store room but the left side of the CIC is still the same Conference Room and the War Room. In the Shuttle Bay we add a new feature. You can customize and upgrade your shuttles. New cannon, new armor and more. The ship's Armory is better than the old version. The Armory can upgrade and add more mods to your guns. You can even make your own gun if you have enough resources and imaginary. The ship's AI also developed and enhanced from the old one." Captain Dupont explained

"AI?" William asked

"Yes, his name is UDI. Just like his cousin, EDI. He can think, speak and act by his own idea. He can even feel an emotion. The Alliance developed this feature from EDI too." Captain Dupont answered

"Hhmp, This name rings a bell." William said quietly

"There are a couple more things you need to know, Commander. I move your team and some Sparta's crews to work in the Normandy too. Includes Ensign Klingemann. All of them will be under your command from now on and they're waiting for you inside the Normandy. And I'll give dossiers about the people you need to know. A direct order by Ambassador Schmidt. You need to recruit some of them but some of them needs to be killed." Captain Dupont tapped his omni-tool

"Captain, I don't understand. What do you mean "recruit"." William asked again

"Your team is strong, Commander. But still not strong enough to confront the Enclave. Beside there are some positions on the ship that the Alliance can't find. Le Ensign will fill you the detail. I'm I clear?" Captain Dupont answered again

"Yes, Captain." William replied

"Bien. You should get to your ship now. Au revoir et bonne chance, Commandant" Captain said before he returned to his ship.

"Wait!" William shouted loudly

"Yes?" Captain Dupont turned his head

"I want to say " thank you"... for everything you have done to me." William said slowly and softly

"It's nothing. I just do my duty. Farewell, Commander. I hope we will meet again soon." Then he left the room

CIC, SSV Normandy SR-3 2015 Hours

William entered the Normandy through the airlock. He walked slowly before he noticed that the pilot turned his chair and saluted him

"Good evening, Commander. Name's Esteban Fernando. But you can call me Steve, if you like my English name more. I'm the helmsman of this ship. Glad to meet you, Commander."

"Nice to meet you too, Steve. Let me guess. You come from Spain, right?" William asked

"Si. My home town is Barcelona. My brother was an Alliance soldier. So I wanted to serve the Alliance too but my legs and feet has a problem."

"What is it?"

"I have a minor Vrolik syndrome. Even it's a minor case it makes me cannot go to a field. Instead, I learned how to fly a space ship and a shuttle with a famous trainer, Steven Cortez. It took a year and half for me to get a certificate but I still wears an Alliance uniform. Mi hermano would be proud if he's still here."

"What happened to him?" William asked curiously

"Killed by the rebel. On Benning Civil War." Steve said sadly

"I'm sorry about that." William showed his sympathy

"Don't worry, sir. It was a long time ago. I can left it behind me."

"Did you see my squad?" William asked again

"Oh si,si, they are on the Crew Deck now. Except the Ensign. He's on the terminal in front of the galaxy map. He said you should talk to him."

Then William walked to the galaxy map and talked with Ensign Klignmann.

"Ensign?" William called

He turned and saluted him.

"Oh, hello, Commander. What can I serve you?" Ensign asked

"The helmsman said you want me to talk to you." William replied

"Yes, Commander. I'll introduce a ship in detailed. On the Captain's Cabin, your belonging will be here includes your armor, weapons and miscellaneous items. You can also call someone to meet you privately there. On the CIC there are 5 main parts of the deck. The bridge, the galaxy map, the Conference Room, the War Room and the Tech Bridge is where our pilot, Flight Lieutenant Fernando work. The Galaxy map is the place that allows you to set the Normandy' destination. In the Conference Room you can call people to meet you and discuss the war matters. The War Room Is where you can review our war assets. They're people, devices, weapons, and anything that can be use as an asset. You can use a comm room to call someone that's not aboard. Last but not least, the Tech Lab. You can use this room to upgrade ship, your squad, weapons and armor. You need to recruit the scientist first before you can use the lab."

Then UDI interrupted the conversation.

"His name is Professor Dosak Hix. His current location is at the STG base on Sur'Kesh." UDI reported

"Thank you, UDI. Sorry, that was the ship's AI, UDI. He's the smartest bot I've ever met. He will protect the ship by electronic warfare. Hacking, EMP, blah blah blah. He'll provide the combat tactic and advice when you're on the field. His quantum box is in the AI Core behind the Med Bay in Crew Deck."

"Good, go on." William replied

"There are 11 rooms on the Crew Deck. The first section is the Mess Hall. We've a civilian volunteered to work aboard. His name is Rupert Gardner. He will cook, wash the toilet, fix the toilet and more. Next is the XO's office. You can meet Staff Lieutenant Plank there. The next room is the Battery. This is the place where the cannons work. But before you can use this room you need to recruit the Gunnery Officer first. Renia Erasus is her name. She's the turian mercenary currently work for Aria. Ask her a favor and she'll be on our side. Next room is quite important. The Intel Room. We changed the Port Observation Deck into the Intel Room. You need to recruit the Intel Broker then you'll have access to the Intel. Shadow Broker is the best for this. Currently the Broker is at Thessia. I'll contact the asari government when we get there. Our next is the Med Bay and the AI Core. If you have a problem about your health go to Med Bay. Doctor Daniella MacTavish will be there and help you. She's very kind. AI Core is where our UDI resides. Next is the Crew Quarter. The crews will be in here. The toilets are currently vacant. If you recruit somebody that like these room, I'll change the room status. "

"Toilet?" William asked

"That was a joke, ha ha. The Engineering has 3 rooms. The Drive Core, Starboard and Port Cargo. The Drive Core is improved from the SR-2. It's still the same size but more advance and better than the SR-2. Chief Engineer Ivan Pesolov and his assistances, Josefina Garza and Yamada Ichigawa and your squad, Lieutenant Wood will be there. You can recruit one more engineer to work there. Her name is Geia'Xen vas Rannoch. Her location is at Rannoch. Both Starboard and Port Cargo are vacant. That was not a joke.'  
"OK, Got it" William nodded

"The last deck is the Shuttle Bay. There are 2 sections in the deck. The Armory and the Shuttle Bay. Gunnery Chief Fitzwalter will take care the Armory and Lieutenant Jasper Gunter will take care the Shuttle Bay. You can customize you and your squad weapons and armor. You can buy the shuttles' upgrades and put them in. Shield, cannons, armor and more at the shop around the galaxy."

"What about the rest of my squad location?"

"Well, Operation Chief Ferino is at the Starboard Observation Deck and Service Chief Lee is at the Life Support. So, that's all for the ship tour. Before we leave the station would you like to give a little speech?"

''Yes, I'd like to do it."

Then the Ensign opened the ship speaker and microphone

"Here you go."

William moved to the terminal and start speaking.

"Attention, Normandy's crews. This is Commander William Shepard speaking. We have our mission waiting. Stop the Enclave before they harm the galaxy. I will tell you the truth, crews. This is not going to be an easy task. This is not just for the humanity but for other races too. All other races are going to war. We must step up and do our part for the galaxy too!"

Shortly the crews gathered in the Crew Deck and listened to William carefully.

"We are going to go to Terminus System and end this war. Our foes know we're coming for them and they will be waiting for us. We will be ready for them too. This is not just for humans' lives but all other lives in the galaxy. We must end this madness of war as soon as possible. I promise. I shall end this war!"

" Well said, Commander. Bravo." the Ensign clapped his hands

"There's no time to waste. Steve, set course to the Mass Relay. We'll go to Sur'Kesh and get our scientist immediately." William ordered confidently

Shortly, the Normandy left the station. Not long after that the ship went straight to the Mass Relay and disappeared.


	6. The Scientist

Chapter 4: The Scientist

Captain's Cabin,SSV Normandy 0700 Hours

William sat on the chair, was reading a dossier of the Scientist.

* * *

Dossier: The Scientist

Name: Professor Dosak Hix

Date of Birth: 11 January 2181

Allegiance: STG

Service Record: 2206 Joined STG

2208 Done espionage mission on the Darrius Campaign and found a wreckage of a Reaper Capital Ship

2210 Becomes the Head of the Reaper Technology Department of STG

2219 Researched and design a new starship drive core from the Capital Ship's drive core.

* * *

"Hhmp, very interesting." William said

Then he put down the dossier, left the Cabin and got down.

CIC, SSV Normandy SR-3 0710 Hour

William walked to Karl and asked about situation.

"Karl, what's the situation on Sur'kesh?" William asked

"Sir, the salarian command approved our landing. The command said there are "packages" awaiting for you to receive it along with our scientist. UDI will fill you the detail when you get there. Go to the Shuttle Bay when you're ready. By the way, the Enclave mercs are infiltrating the STG base. According to our Intel. So, you better wrap things up quickly." Karl reported

"Thanks for advice. I'll bring Josh and Alfronzo with me but I have to get to know the crews first. Inform them to wait for me in the Shuttle Bay" William replied

"Certainly, they will be waiting for you. And I'll unlock the Lab when our scientist arrive." Karl nodded

"Thanks, Karl." William said before he left the CIC.

Crew's Quarter, SSV Normandy SR-3 0730 Hour

William left the elevator and walked to the Mess Hall. He went to the counter. The old, bald man was cooking.

"Ahem, what do we have for dinner tonight?" William said

"Ah, Commander Shepard, the hero of... Oops, sorry sir. I thought you're your father."

"It's alright. Some people say that I look a lot like my dad. So, would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Name's Rupert Gardner. I'm the ship's janitor, cook and a civilian volunteer. You can say that I'm the ship's butler. I once served your father, you know. When he was with Cerberus."

"Yeah, dad told me about you. But what happened to you when he returned to the Alliance?"

"Well, after he got back to the Alliance, I learned about the Cerberus and ran away from them. It wasn't the organization I joined. So, I went back to Arcturus Station and lived there until the Reaper attacked. I escaped and went from place to place to hide from Reaper until the war ended. While I was hiding I received many news about the Commander from my friend s but I couldn't get back because I was busy running away from the Reaper. When the war ended I came to Earth and lived peacefully. Until I heard about the Project Renaissance and then I joined the Project. But you should take note that I'm a civilian volunteer not a soldier. So, I cannot go down there and fight with the Enclave." Rupert told the story

"I understand. If you need anything just tell me, ." William said before left Rupert

Then William left the Mess Hall and walked to the Med Bay. He entered. He saw a middle-aged with brown hairs and green eyes sitting and reading a datapad. Then she looked up and saw William.

"Ah, Commander. It seems that you know my name but I will introduce myself any way. My name is MacTavish, the ship's doctor. I will provide a medical care for the crews. And for you, I'll take care of your health and your augmented organs. Nuntius, HUD eyes, artificial muscles and more. I can install additional organs to you for fee." Doctor Daniella stood up and tapped her omni-tool "By the way I should scan your body now." She said with her Scottish accent

'OK, that won't hurt me." William said

After few tapped the result came from the Doctor's omni-tool.

"Good news, Commander. Your health is good and your augmented organs are working properly." Doctor said with good voice

"Well, if you have nothing more I'll go check the other crews." Shepard said

Then William left the Med Bay and got to the elevator.

Engineering, SSV Normandy SR-3 0745 Hour

William left the elevator and entered the Drive Core. Shortly Jerome turned and shouted

"Ten-hut!" He saluted

Then the other engineers turned and saluted.

"Oh Commander, welcome to Engineering. I'm Chief Engineer Ivan Pesolov. On my side is Engineer Garza and Engineer Ichigawa. They're my assistances." Engineer Pesolov shook William's hand

"Hola, Commander. I'm Josefina Garza. Me and my friend Yamada is the ship's engineers. I'm the temperature controller." Josefina said

"And my name's Yamada Ichigawa. I'm the core maintenance." Engineer Ichigawa said  
"Nice to meet you. Can you tell me about your history?" William said

"Of course. Me and Yada are friends since we've studied in the MIT. We both graduated from the MIT in space engineering major in 2209. And we met the Chief when we worked at the SSV Bangkok, the Washington-Class cruiser. We worked there for 2 years then Captain Arak Hirunbhumi, the Bangkok's Captain got the word from the brass then he moved us to work here." Josefina said

"And you, Chief?" William asked

"I graduated from Moscow University in 2198 in space engineering major. I served in many ship. SSV Waterloo, SSV Singapore, SSV Detroit, SSV Kinabalu, SSV Alamo and more. I met Engineer Garza and Engineer Ichigawa when I worked at the Bangkok. Then the brass moved us to the SR-3."

"And how's my squad mate doing?"

"Oh, Lieutenant Wood is a fine engineer. His presence makes me feel good and he also teaches the youngsters in some issues that I need to tell them again." Engineer Pesolov said

"Good, keep it up then. I have to go now." William said

"Aye aye, Commander." Pesolov said

William left the Engineer and got down to Shuttle Bay

Shuttle Bay, SSV Normandy SR-3 0800 Hour

William left the elevator. Then the shuttle pilot in Alliance uniform saluted him.

"Commander, I'm Lieutenant Jasper Gunter. Welcome to the Shuttle Bay and Armory."

"Nice to meet you, Lieutenant." William shook his hand

"You can call me Quinn." Jasper said

"Quinn?"

"Yes, it comes from Harlequin. I love to make people smile and laugh. So I got this nickname from the kids on my home, Tiptree." Quinn answered

"Alright, what can I do here?" William asked

"In the Shuttle Bay, this place is where our shuttles reside. TS-50A Pegasus, it's the most versatile shuttle that money can buy. You can upgrade it with many part. I added three initial upgrade. Two AC-360 Tarantula Mass Accelerator cannons makes the shuttle can bombard our hostiles from above. The Silaris Shuttle Armor and Typhoon Barrier are little bit old but they protect the shuttle greatly. There's more space to add one upgrade. But I have two upgrades , so you need to choose between MG-650 Arrow Automatic Machine Gun and the S-3 Shuttle Stealth Drive. Please choose WISELY."

"Add the machine gun. I'll use the stealth drive later."

"Affirmative, it will finish it shortly. You should talk with your squad mates over there." Quinn pointed at Josh and Al near the Armory

William walked to his squad members.

"Josh, Al, there you are!" William said

"Commander, What's our mission? Alfronzo asked

"Simple, we go down there and get our scientist and his "packages" then leave before anyone change mind. But our Intel reported that mercenaries hired by the Enclave are near the STG base. So we should not stay there for long."

"Affirmative" Both replied in unison

"Good." William said

Then Quinn walked to William.

"Sir, the shuttle is ready to fly." Quinn reported

"Good let's go get our scientist!" Josh said

The shuttle flew away from the Normandy and got down to the planet's surface.

STG Base, Sur'kesh 0900 Hour

"Sir, the base is below us. Prepare for landing."

"Get us down, Quinn" William ordered

"Commander, Professor Hix is currently at the base's Laboratory on the underground. I also notice that the salarian base is not in much motion. It is likely that the salarian are not prepare against the mercenaries."

"Thanks, UDI."

The shuttle landed on the base. The hatch opened and William's squad left the shuttle. Shortly a salarian walked to William.

"Commander Shepard, I'm Major Jonon Vilos, the base commander. It's pleasure to meet you." The Major shook William's hand

"Nice to meet you." William said" Where is Professor Hix?"

"He's down at the Laboratory, preparing his "packages". I'll get an elevator for you. Meet me when you are ready." Major Vilos said

"Commander, should we tell him about the mercs?" Josh asked

"I'll tell him when we get to the elevator." William replied

William and his team walked quickly to the elevator. Major Vilos finished preparing the elevator shortly.

"Alright, the Professor is down there. I'll have to go now. Meet me again with Professor."

"Wait!" William shouted"Do you know that the Enclave's mercenaries are about to attack this place!"

Suddenly William heard alarms from around him.

"Ah Hell!" Josh shouted

"Commander, do not worry. Get the Professor. We will hold the line for you." Major said before the elevator closed

Shortly the elevator got down to the Lab. The door opened, William and his team left and saw the salarian scientist and a salarian soldiers were carrying boxes

"Watch it, soldier! My stuffs is very important for science!" the scientist shouted

"Professor Hix?" William asked

"Yes. You must be Commander William Shepard." Professor shook William's hand

"Yes. I'm here to get you out of this place." William said hurriedly

"I know. My "packages" are ready and already loaded to the elevator. Ready to leave at any time." Professor Hix replied

"What is the "packages"?" William asked

Professor came closer to William and whispered to him

"It's a Reaper Capital Ship's drive core. It's not fully researched. Have to done my research." Hix whispered

"What? Does it safe from indoctrination?" William asked

"I'm not sure but I already separated it into many pieces for deeper and better result. So, I don't think it will indoctrinate your crews. Do you allow them to get to your ship?" Hix said

"Alright, let's get just out of here." William said

Then Hix get to the elevator, opened the barrier then said to William

"Commander, I'll meet you at the check point"

The elevator slowly moved away from the Lab. Then William returned to the elevator

"Get me the elevator!" William shouted

"I can't. The hostiles hacked our system. I can't get the elevator for you."

"Dios. Then what should we do?" Alfronzo said angrily

"You can use emergency stairs over there" The salarian pointed at the stair

William and team quickly ran for stairs and climb the stair. The team got up and saw a bloody battle. Mercenary's helicopters was flying in the air while the salarian shooting AA guns at them.

"I can't believe this would happen to the salarian." Josh said

"No one would." William commented "Let's get to our scientist."

"Right." Josh replied

The team moved to the elevator check point. The elevator was arrived.

"Shepard, need to proceed. Authorize the check point." Professor said quickly

William moved to barrier and tapped at keyboard

"Are you safe?"

"The barrier is strong but not design for absorbing a direct fire, try to hold out as long as possible."

The elevator slowly move. Suddenly a group of mercenaries dropped from shuttles and shooting at William

"There he is!" Batarian merc shouted

Alfronzo quickly lifted the batarian up then Josh shot his shotgun. Shortly, William shot his assault rifle at the krogan then Alfronzo threw his Warp to the unlucky krogan. Then the squad killed the rest of the mercenaries quickly.

"Well, that's all." Alfronzo said

"Yeah, let's go" William said

The squad moved to next floor and quickly got to the elevator. He saw the slightly dark and empty room and the elevator that was not moving.

"Shepard, someone hacked the elevator. I can't move until you deal with the hacker."

"Where is the hacker?"

"I'm sure he's on this floor. Maybe inside that room." Hix pointed at the door behind William

"UDI do you detect any hacking activity?" William asked UDI

"I found one in the room behind you, Commander." UDI reported

"Stay here. I'll go alone." William said to his soldiers

William slowly moved to the door, he drew his pistol up. He open the door. He saw a salarian tapping the computer. He was turning his back to William. William moved to the hacker and put the pistol to his head.

"Don't move if you want to live and see another day." William said

The hacker stopped tapping then every move.

"Don...Don't kill me please! The mercenaries came and told me to hack the transporting lift! Please I had no choice but to do it!" the hacker said slowly

"Where are the mercenaries now?" William asked

"I saw him left the room and headed to the landing pad. He shouldn't go further than the landing pad. It's the top floor of this base." the hacker answered

"UDI, did the salarian tell the truth?" William asked

"Yes. I detected several krogans and a group of batarian on the landing pad. I detect some salarian life sign too." UDI answered

"I should watch for the hostage situation" William thought

Suddenly William heard the krogan voice from the salarian's communicator

"Have you got the elevator yet? So I can go down there and eat his liver!" the krogan said

"Tell him that you haven't done it yet." William said quietly

"Ah, I haven't got anything in my sensor yet." the salarian said

"Don't play any clever trick, you sneaky bastard. Or I'll eat yours instead." He shut the radio

"Stay here and lock the door and do not hack anything again or I will kill you!" William said

William left the room quickly and returned to the elevator.

"The hacker have been dealt with. But do not move the elevator. We have to clear the mercenaries up there."

"Alright, Shepard. Will stay here."

"Josh, watch the Professor while I go above."

Then William and Alfronzo left the room and get to the stairs outside. They climbed and proceed the door.

"Are you ready?" William asked

"Ready when you are, Commander." Alfronzo replied

The door opened then both of them sneaked to the landing pad slowly. They took cover behind a table in front of them and the mercenaries. William overheard the mercenaries was talking

"Hey, do you think the salarian told the truth?" One of the batarian mercenary asked the krogan leader

"He won't, he's a little raptile that scares us." the leader replied

"What should we do with the hostages?" another krogan asked

"Our client said they want them alive along with the drive core and the Professor. So we won't kill them." the krogan leader said

"Ah what a shame." the krogan replied

Meanwhile William and Alfronzo were thinking a plan

"Quinn,where are you?" William said through the comm

"Commander, I'm leading the salarian aircrafts here. The cavalry is about to arrive."

"Good but I need you on the landing pad. I need a suppressive fire from shuttle."

"What are you going to do?" Quinn asked

"Ambush. We have an element of surprise here. The mercs don't know that I'm at the landing pad. So when you get there. Me and Al will attack from the front then you flank them." William explained his plan

"Affirmative. ETA 2 minutes." Quinn replied back before he cut the communication

Shortly after few reloads and amp checks, the shuttle arrive along with a lots of bullets flied from the machine gun from the side. Suddenly Alfronzo and William left the cover and unleashed everything they got. William spreaded his thermal-clips to the batarian mercenaries on the left while Alfronzo fired his pistol and released his biotic power to the krogans on the right. The short, bloody battle ended quickly when the last mercenary was killed and the salarian hostages had been released. Then the salarian reinforcements arrived and liberated the base.

"Thank you, Commander. We are in an endless debt." One of the salarian said

"Don't mention it." William said "Professor, the landing pad's clear." William said through radio

"Good, finally can get up." Professor Hix replied lazily

Then the elevator came up along with Josh and the shuttle landed. Shortly Josh and Al slowly and carefully loaded the drive core parts to the shuttle while the Professor came to William

"Shepard, Thank you for coming by. Wouldn't survive if you didn't come."

"I'm glad you can make it. Now let's go to the Normandy.

The shuttle left the base and left Sur'kesh shortly.

CIC, SSV Normandy SR-3 1100 Hour

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, Professor." Karl welcomed the new crew

William, Professor Hix and Karl entered the Tech Lab.

"Professor, this is your new home." William introduced the Lab

"That's great, Shepard. Fully-equipped Lab and a Research Terminal are more than enough for me to research." Hix excitedly exclaimed

"Karl, I need some privacy."

Shortly Karl left the Lab

"Alright Professor, tell me everything about the Reaper's drive core."

Professor turned and spilled the bean.

"Alright, Shepard. I'll tell. It came from the Capital Ship that I found in 2208. When I found it the armor was much damaged and made it easier to crack open. STG found many useful parts inside but many feared that it will indoctrinate everyone that meddle with them. So it spent most of the time in the shield. Our scientist watch and analyst inside of it until I becomes the Head of the Reaper Tech Departure. I know that it will be better if we research inside the Reaper part. I started with the drive core first. I studied it for a month before you came." Hix explained

"What's the ability of the drive core?" William asked

"It's the most powerful drive core I've ever seen. It can literally bring the ship outside the galaxy! I guess that's the reason why the Reaper can get in and out of this galaxy." Professor answered quickly

"And do you know why the Enclave hunts you and the drive core?" William asked again

"I think I know it. Recently, the STG Intel reported that the Enclave is finding a way to leave the galaxy. They're finding a powerful thing that can make them rule the galaxy." Professor explained  
"What is it?" William asked curiously

"The STG calls them the Harvester."  
"Harvester?!" William asked shockingly

"19 years ago, STG discovered that the Reaper War was just the first phrase of the cycle. They discovered that when the Reaper finish their duty the other race outside the galaxy that's more powerful than the Reaper will come in and harvest remaining until no advance race left then they will leave the galaxy and wait until the cycle begin again." Hix explained

"And what's the reason why the Harvester have not come to the galaxy?"

"I think the reason is that the Reaper haven't sent the signal for them."

"Signal? What signal?"

"The signal inside the Reaper. More specify, the Harbinger. The Harbinger will signal the Harvester to come harvest because the Reaper already done their job. Weakening the advance races until they're very weak or extinct. But currently STG still doesn't know what part of the Harbinger is use as a signal."

"What about your design?" William asked  
"My design is capable of leaving the galaxy but it need a lot of resources and minerals. But it's your choice to upgrade with my design or with the Reaper one."

"I'll consider that again. I'll leave you to get to know the lab better." William said

William left the lab quickly. Then Karl walked to William

"Commander, Professor Hix gives us a great things but there are bad things too."

"What do you mean?"

"Professor Hix has been to the bounty board and that means mercenaries and bounty hunters that the Enclave hired will come and hunt Professor Hix at any time. We need someone to protect the ship and we need the Gunnery Officer now." Karl reported

"What's our Gunnery Officer's location?" William asked

"Omega. Renia Erasus is her name. I already said that she is in contact with Aria." Karl answered

"Oh yes, I almost forget. Steve, get us to Omega immediately." William ordered

"Aye aye, Commander." Steve replied

The Normandy left the Sur'kesh's orbit shortly and went to the Mass Relay and gone into the space.


	7. The Sentinel

Chapter 5: The Sentinel

Hangar F-13, Omega, 1900 Hour

The Normandy came from Mass Relay and arrived at Omega. The quarian fleet, Alliance fleet and Aria's mercenary fleet were surrounded around the station. The Normandy arrived at hangar F-13. Shortly William, Alexandra and Professor Hix left the ship and moved to the Passengers Lounge.

"Professor, have you ever came to Omega?" Sandra asked Professor

"Once. I came as a STG operative in Operation Falling Tyrant. It was an operation to eliminate all mercenaries that resist Aria's rule. Then mostly spent time inside lab." Professor Hix answered quickly

"Ahem." William coughed "Quickly, we need to go to Afterlife to get information of our Gunnery Officer."

Afterlife, Omega 1915 Hour

William and his team entered the Afterlife. The Afterlife got back in shape quickly after the battle. The pole dancers, bartenders were working normally like nothing happened.

"Can't believe the Afterlife had been restored so quickly." Alexandra said surprisingly

"Yeah, I'm surprised about that too." William replied

The team moved to Aria's personal lounge. Aria greeted them properly.

"Commander Shepard, what do you need?" Aria asked

"I need information about her." William handed the datapad to Aria

Aria read the datapad for a while before returned to William.

* * *

Dossier: The Mercenary

Name: Renia Erasus

Date of Birth: 26 January 2188

Allegiance: Turian Navy (ex), Cabal (defected), Blood Axe

Service Record: 2203 Joined turian military

2208 Served aboard the Indestructible, turian dreadnaught as gunnery officer.

2210 Discovered Biotic ability and has been moved to Cabal Squad

2211 Fought at Gospel Prime and secretly escaped the battle, official presumed KIA

2212 Established Blood Axe mercenary with her brother and some of his and her friends

* * *

"So, you come here to find her then? I sent Renia and her mercs to eliminate some of my "rivals". They're the mercenaries and gangs that broke my rule. Few days ago I lost contact with her for unknown reason. But my informant reported that the most powerful mercs and gangs that the Enclave back will meet tonight at Theta District. And there is a rumor in Theta District says mercenary called "The Sentinel" is out there, killing everyone who support the Enclave, so I think that must be Renia and her goons. You can take her if she's willing to come with you." Aria told William everything about Renia.

"Thanks for the info, Miss T'Loak. By the way, what's your rule?" William asked

"Don't… fuck with… Aria." Aria said

"Ah… I should go." William said before they left

Shortly the team left the Afterlife and headed to Theta District by elevator.

Theta District, Omega 1950 Hour

William and his team left the elevator and get down to the street. The street was calm, slightly dark, empty and unusually quiet.

"Stay sharp, people. Everything can happen here." William alerted his team and drew his assault rifle

The team moved slowly and carefully through the street. Then shortly before reaching the end of the street William heard some voice calling him from the dark corner.

"Psh, psh, over here!" The voice said quietly

William turned and saw an unexpected thing. He saw a male turian bleeding, he was wearing a red mercenary armor with axe symbol.

"Who are you? Where's everyone?" Alexandra asked the turian

"Name's Kaligus, I'm…mercenary. Blood Axe's the name. You need find my boss, the Sentinel." The merc answered

"Why? What happened?" William asked

"The mercenaries came here… Black Moon's their name. They wiped most of the people here. Aria contacted us to fight them. We thought… we can handle them but other mercenaries came and we were outnumbered. They killed most of us and captured some of my friends to the building at the end of the street. Only my boss slipped away." The merc told the event

"Who's the Sentinel?" Alexandra asked

"Renia Erasus. Please you need to find her." Kaligus said

"Shh, do not say anything for now." Professor Hix spread the medi-gel to Kaligus's body

Shortly Kaligus's body stopped bleeding then he sigh

"Thank you, but my sister is still out there." Kaligus spoke nervously

"Sister?" William asked surprisingly

"Yes, my full name is Kaligus Erasus. I have an elder sister and she's my boss. If you want to find her, I think you should…" Kaligus was interrupted by a quick movement

Suddenly someone jumped from the building behind and drew the weapon.

"Stay away from my brother now!" The voice said aggressively

The team turned and saw a graceful female turian with her pistol.

"Wait, Renia! They saved my life!" Kaligus replied quickly

"What?" The female said puzzled

"They saved my life. If they didn't come I would've died now." Kaligus said

The female lowered her pistol and came to Kaligus

"Hey, are you sure you're alright?" Renia asked worriedly

"I'm good for now" Kaligus turned to William"This is my sister, Renia. Renia this is… Eh, I still don't know your name." Kaligus said

"I'm Commander William Shepard and these are my team." William introduced

"Commander, I'm sorry for rude action I had done and thank you for saving my brother. I'll do anything to repay this debt." Renia apologized

"Alright, I think I have one thing in my mind. My ship needs a gunnery officer. Do you familiar about calibrating cannon or something like this?" William said

"Yeah, I was a gunnery officer in the military ship before I left and become a merc. I know you want me in your team but I have to rescue my friends from the Black Moon first." Renia replied while she was reloading her guns

Then she put her pistol up and said

"Now they will know who they are messing with." Renia said angrily

Suddenly, Kaligus slowly got up and talked to his sister

"Wait, let me… Arg!" Kaligus fell down quickly

"Hey, if you cannot fight you don't have to fight, Kaligus. I don't want to lose you like the others. You better stay here than died in vein." Renia advised him

"Professor." William called Hix" Take care of him while I rescue the mercs."

"Will do, Shepard" Hix replied

Shortly, William and his team left the corner and go to the building at the end of the street. Then the team took cover in front of the high-rise building when William saw the guards and gave a hand signal to get cover. The building was tall, old, metallic building with 6 Black Moon mercenaries and a heavy mech guarding it.

"Hhmp, that's CYCLOPS mech, armed with custom machine gun and extra shield. And the troops are wearing special armor. These make them be a tough son of a bitch." Renia said quietly

"Commander, what should we do?" Alexandra whispered as quiet as she could

"Renia, do you have any special power?" William asked Renia quietly

"I have some biotic powers and my omni-tool have some powers in it too." Renia explained

William peaked to plan attacking tactic.

"Alright Sandra, prep your missile launcher." William ordered"Renia, use your omni-tool to overload the mech's shield. I'll handle the mercs."

"Copy." Both nodded

Renia stood up and used Overload power on her omni-tool to destroy the mech's shield. Then in the confusion, Alexandra stood and fired her missile launcher a few shot. Then the mech exploaded. The blast killed some mercenaries. William unleashed his assault rifle at the remaining troops and killed them all.

"Well, that's easier than I thought." Renia said

"Let's get inside." William replied

The team opened the door and got inside the hall with corridor above. Suddenly the lights from corridor spotted at them. Within confusion the mercenaries came out and pointed their guns at William and his team. Then from above, a krogan, an asari and batarian came out.

"So, the leader of the Blood Axe and Commander Shepard got inside the warrens' lair. We can kill you now but somebody wants to talk with you." the krogan spoke confidently

The asari dropped the communication drone then the drone moved to William. Suddenly the hologram of Gregori Azorav appeared.

"Well, Commander Shepard. We finally meet again. Unfortunately I cannot meet you in person this time." Azorav slowly walked to William

"Who are these people? And what do you want?" William asked

"They are my best bounty hunters. Gatatok Daxgak, Desoria Ases and Galek Fexok. On the ground are their goons. They are the ones who will end your journey."

"What do you need?" William asked

"You already know what I and my mighty Enclave need. If not, I'll tell you. The Reaper drive core. There is a bomb fill with plague. On the top of the building along with Miss Erasus's friends. Plague will slowly spread across Omega and soon across the , if you don't want anyone to get killed, hand me the drive core." Gregori threatened

"I will not allow something so dangerous fall to the enemy's hands." William replied angrily

"You've made a fool choice." Azorav said before disappeared

Shortly after Gregori gone the mercenaries aimed their gun and prepared to shoot. The situation seemed hopeless but suddenly the lights gone off and everything went dark in the sudden but William could see everything with his augmented eyes.

"Commander, the door on your right is opening. You can leave before the light comes back." UDI gave advice through nuntius

Quickly, William and his team left the room and get to the door and into another slightly bright room with eezo crates and gas tanks. He closed the door before contacted UDI.

"UDI, how much time do we have before the bomb get activated?" William asked worriedly

"The bomb on the top will active within 30 minutes. You can get there by an elevator in the room next to this room." UDI reported

"And the hostages?" William shot a question

"They're on the same floor as a bomb. They will be the first people to get killed by the plague if the bomb has been activated."

"Thanks." William replied

William and his team left the room and get to a long, slightly dark hallway. The team left the hallway and got to cargo elevator safely. William pressed the number 50 button and the elevator moved up quickly.

"That' too easy, there mercs must have something more." Alexandra said

"We should worry about the bomb more, human." Renia replied back

"My name IS Alexandra Fitzwalter!" Sandra yelled back angrily

"Hey!" William turned "Break off, ladies. This isn't a time to argue. We need to watch for both of them."

The ladies looked at each other for a while then turned to the front. The elevator opened and the team got to the store room. It was a short room the team could wee a door away from them about 20 meters.

"UDI, is the bomb there?" William asked

"Yes, I also detected 4 life signs too." UDI report

Then shortly Renia opened the door and saw an unexpected thing.

"Temox, Phil, Gansius, Riasha!" Renia shouted

William saw a krogan, human, turian and asari tied on the chairs circularly with the bomb in the center. Renia rushed to them quickly then she investigated their injuries.

"Are all of you alright?" Renia asked worriedly

"No, I..." the turian said "They... tortured us... interrogated us about Aria. We're glad you came."

"Who...who are you?" the human asked

"I'm Commander William Shepard, Alliance Navy."

Then she untied her mercenaries then they grabbed their weapons from box. Renia looked at the bomb and saw a number 25:00 on the bomb.

"Twenty-five minutes left." She said to herself before attempted to disarm bomb" Commander, watch my back while I'm disarming the bomb."

Suddenly UDI contacted William about mercs.

"Commander, hostile mercenaries are inside the elevator and coming to you. You should prepare for them." UDI reported

Then the 4 mercs line up and volunteered to fight.

"Ah... Commander, if our foes want to fight us, we'll fight." the krogan said

"You're injured and not in proper condition to fight. You should wait here." William advised

"He's right. I don't want to lose all of you like the others." Renia agreed

"Damn!" the asari yelled regrettably "OK you win. We'll wait here but take these as our aid." she handed William grenades.

"What are these?"

"EMP grenades. I'm sure they will send a lot of mechs on us."

Then UDI interrupted

"She's right. I'm reading mechs inside other elevator are coming to you. ETA 1 minute" UDI reported

William brought Alexandra with him and then left the room. The storage room was different. The room slowly expanded wider and wider.

"What's happening? Why the room is... moving?" Alexandra asked

"It's the way the smugglers smuggle the stuff. They linked this building to the others in order to get stuffs without being seen." William answered

The room still expanded until it linked with the buildings on both side.

"Watch my flank, Sandra. The enemies are surely going to flank us through the buildings on our side." William ordered

Alexandra quickly took cover at crate on her left side. William and Alexandra awaited the elevator to arrive. The ringing sound told that the elevator arrived. William grabbed his assault rifle tightly. The elevator opened, EMP grenade was thrown over William's head to the elevator and exploded quickly. He peaked up and saw 4 STYX mechs laid still on the floor. Suddenly, mercenaries flooded in from the building link on both side. Quickly, William changed cover and started firing at them at the same time as Alexandra.

"They just keep coming!" Alexandra yelled

"Then keep firing!" William shouted back

The battle went on. Mechs were still coming and filled the store room. Suddenly, Renia came from behind and shot mechs' heads with double pistols. She destroyed mechs quickly. Shortly, all mechs were destroyed.

"That's it for now." Renia said

"What about the bomb?"

"It has been disarmed. You don't have to worry about it, Commander."

Suddenly, UDI contacted William and warned him.

"Commander, currently Aria mercenaries are repelling the rival mercenaries. You should leave as soon as possible." UDI warned William

"What about the bounty hunters?" William asked

"They're gone now." UDI answered

Suddenly, the elevator closed and went down quickly.

"What the hell!" Sandra shouted

"Looks like something big is coming here. We better prepare." Renia advised

"I know it, genius. You don't have to say it." Alexandra replied sarcastically

Renia brought our and tapped her omni-tool.

"What are you doing?" William asked

"Hhmp, I can hack the elevator's system." Said Renia quietly "I'll stop it."

William grabbed her shoulder and looked at the omni-tool.

"Can you hack camera?" William asked

"Certainly." She tapped at the omni-tool. "Here you go."

He saw a krogan, armed with M-400 Excalibur and was wearing heavy carapace armor.

"What kind of sorcery is this!" the krogan yelled and started striking elevator

"The Excalibur? And heavy armor? Spirits, he must be very rich in order to possess them." Renia commented

Krogan turned behind. Renia quickly noticed the krogan had Halo Shield Generator on his back.

"What is this? Halo Shield? Damn, he's tougher than he looks!" Renia exclaimed calmly

"What are you waiting? Do something!" Alexandra said anxiously

"Hush, Sandra. Let her do it." William stopped her

Renia turned slightly and looked at a gas tank.

"Em, can you lift that tank over here?" Renia asked

"I'll do it" Alexandra replied eagerly

William looked curiously for long while

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to use my biotic to throw it to that krogan. I need you to lure him to over there." Renia explained

Sandra dropped a tank in front of Renia.

"Here you go."

"Good, now take cover behind that column on the right and wait. I'll go left."

Then the team began to do as they planned. Renia opened her omni-tool again and tapped to make the elevator move. It arrived quickly and the krogan left the lift with anger.

"Alright, enough with this game! Your lives end here!" He shouted with rage

William and Alexandra fired their guns rapidly. Then the krogan turned at them angrily. He charged in carelessly but they dodged. Suddenly, while krogan was puzzled, she threw the gas tank with her biotic and hit the krogan's back directly. The shield generator was destroyed by the blast. Moment later, all three indiscriminately opened fire at the krogan. Renia released a fireball from omni-tool to burn down the armor. With the shield gone and armor had been weakened, the krogan stood no chance against William and his team. The krogan fell shortly and died.

"So, that's all she wrote." Renia said

"Let your mercs out. It's safe now" William replied

Renia went to the room and released her mercenaries.

"Thank you for saving us, Commander." the asari thanked

"It's my duty to help." William replied

Then Renia interrupted.

"Ahem, I think we should leave now." Renia said

Then the team left the building quickly and returned to Professor Hix. The mercenaries reunited with Kaligus.

"Kaligus? Are you alright." The human mercenary asked

"Fine now. If Commander and his friends didn't come I would die now." He replied

William walked to Professor Hix to asked about Kaligus's health

"So, is he alright?" William asked  
"Yes, I stabilized his wound and I did some scanning on his body."

William was interrupted by Renia. She called him to talk with him privately

"Commander, I'm happy to go with you but… I need to know if my mercs will be alright without me. I need to talk with them." Renia said

"It's alright. Go talk with them." William replied back

Then Renia walked to her mercenaries and said her words

"Alright my mercenaries. Commander came here with a deal. He needs me to go with him. It's a fair deal and I accepted it but I worry about all of you. Can you take care of yourselves when I'm gone? Who will be in charge when I'm not with you?" Renia asked her mercenaries

"I will." Kaligus volunteered

"So be it. Now about our new home. Where will it be?"

"I can ask my contact for a home in Gozu District. Will it be alright?" The asari said

"Good, do it. Another one, we need some recruiter to add some fresh meats to our course. Who will do it?"

"I'll take care of it." The krogan said

Very good. One last thing. Can we still count on Aria's support?"

"I'll contact her about that." William answered

"Great. Then prepare for departure, Commander. I'll leave in five." Renia said before walked away from the alley

Battery, Crew Deck, SSV Normandy 0400 Hour

"… And this is your room, Battery. I hope that you already put some of your backup memory on now." The Ensign introduced the room

"Do not care about it. He always shoots some jokes on us." William said

"I'm kind of impressed, Commander. Even that I already forget some about how to maintain and calibrate guns." Renia said

"I'll leave you two alone, Commander." Ensign said and left the Battery

Renia touched on a panel and start calibrating. Then William initiated another conversation

"I need you to promise something for me. Can you not start silly arguments with Gunnery Chief Fitzwalter? I don't want any violent within the crews." William asked

"Of cause. I understand. If she doesn't make any trouble with me. I'll stay cool. But please tell her that do not interfere with my jobs. I don't like her much anyway. She just little bit "hot-headed". But I don't like having a conflict with human." Renia explained

"I see. I'll leave you now" William walked away

Shuttle Bay, SSV Normandy 0415 Hour

William walked to the armory and talked to Alexandra. He touched her shoulder instead of calling her name.

"Hey, Sandra. I know you're busy but I need you to answer my question. Are you OK if you have to work with our new turian?"

"Oh yes, if she won't make any trouble with me, I'll be fine. But I don't like her much. She just… little bit arrogant. She think that being a professional professor will make her be a smart-ass? William… oops I mean Commander, please. I don't want to have any, any conflict with anyone within this ship." Sandra replied

"I understand, I'll leave you to alone. Oh almost forget. She said she will leave you alone if you will not interfere with her jobs." William said before he left her

William went on to elevator and got up to his cabin to rest.

Captain's Cabin, SSV Normandy 0430 Hour

William left elevator and went straight to the bed. He laid down tiredly and though.

"Ah, what the hell is happening? I have expect mission problems but this. How do I have to keep my crews united?" he thought

He thought about the problem until he fell asleep.


	8. The Shadow Broker

Chapter 6: The Shadow Broker

SSV Normandy SR-3, Thessia orbit 0900 Hours

"I'm sorry, Commander, but I have no useful information about the Broker to give you." Asari President said

William came to Thessia to identify and take the Broker to cooperate with him. From his little Intel, the Broker's position was on Thessia. Shortly after the Normandy arrived, he contacted the President first in order to learn more about the Broker. After he heard the answer he looked at his datapad before speaking to the President.

* * *

Dossier: The Shadow Broker

Name: Unknown

Date of Birth: Unknown

Allegiance: Unknown

Service Record: Unknown

* * *

"Madame President, since this datapad doesn't give me any "useful" information. Can you at least give me the list of someone who can point me to the Shadow Broker, please. This is vital for the galaxy." William begged

The graceful President sighed before she tapped her omni-tool

"This is the list of the government know information brokers who work with the Shadow Broker. You should start with someone you familiar with."

William received the data and looked at it immediately, he looked carefully and saw one familiar name.

"What's this? Dr.T'Soni?" William

"Do you know her?" She asked

"Yes, she's my father's friend. I met her many times. What's her current location?" William answered

"Her current location is Serrice University." The President tapped her omni-tool" I authorized your ship to land on Thessia. Good luck on your search, Commander." Asari President said before her hologram disappeared

William left the War Room and walked to his yeoman quickly.

"Karl." He called

Karl turned and spoke to his Commander

"Commander, Asari authority just allowed the Normandy to land. Which port do you want to visit?" Karl questioned William

"Land the Normandy at Serrice, Ensign. I have someone who can lead us to the Broker. Oh, don't forget to tell the crews this is not a shore leave. They have no permission to have a vacation there." William ordered

"Aye aye. You won't see them wandering on the street." Karl replied

"Gut!" William put his hand on Karl's left shoulder

Then the Normandy moved closer and closer to the green planet named Thessia.

Docking Bay N-3, Serrice Space Port, Thessia 1000 Hour

The Normandy arrived at the space port then shortly William left the Normandy alone. He went without armor nor weapons nor any squad mate. He thought he would not find any trouble in his path. He walked to the Skybus station near space port. While he was looking at the bus line somebody walked pass and hit him. He turned and looked. He saw graceful and beautiful asari.

"Dr. T'Soni?" He said unexpectedly

"William?" She asked surprisingly

They stood quietly for a short while before Liara started talking.

"I'm sorry. I was hurrying and didn't see you." Liara apologized

"It's alright, auntie. I was looking for you and I would like to discuss "galaxy matter" with you.

"OK, Shepard junior. But I need to get ancient artifacts in the spaceport. Meet me again at my office." Liara said before she went to the space port

Then Liara left William.

"Wow, I didn't think I would find her so quickly." He thought

Shortly the bus to the University arrived then William took the bus to Serrice University.

Faculty of History, Serrice University 1030 Hour

William left the bus and entered Serrice University. He was stunned by the great asari architecture. Great spires, white buildings of faculties made him impressed. Masses of students, both asari and other races walked in and out busily. Then William walked into the Faculty's main building. After some confusion with the direction he finally reached Dr. T'Soni's office. William walked in but he saw only a drone floating in the office. The drone floated to him and initiated a conversation.

"Attention, gentleman. Dr. T'Soni is not available. Please make an appointment before coming here." the drone said

"What are you?" William asked

The drone flew higher before it introduced itself.

"I'm Glyph. Personal assistant of Dr. T'Soni. And who are you?"

Then the door opened and a lady spoke from behind.

"Glyph, he already makes an appointment moments ago." Voice said

William turned and saw Liara.

"Ah, I have not checked your timetable, Doctor. I apologize. And thousand pardons for you." Glyph apologized

"William, this is Glyph, my assistance. Glyph, this is William Shepard, son of Admiral Shepard." Liara introduced

Then Liara walked to her desk and sat down. Her desk had many Prothean artifacts and artifacts of other civilizations he didn't know. William stood still with curiousness

"You can sit down." Liara said

William nodded then sat down

"I know these artifacts are attractive. By the way, time flies very fast. How long have passed since our last time we met?'

"About a year or couple. I think." William answered

"You were an N7 recruit in that time but look at you now. You're in graceful military suits. I can't imagine what will you look like when you wear N7 Armor. What's your rank now?" Liara asked

"I'm Commander now." William answered

"So, how's your mother and father doing?" Liara asked

"They are fine, . I just said goodbye to them a week ago, Doc." William replied

"You can call me just auntie. No need for formality here." Liara said "So, what's your business here."

William placed his hands on the desk and started talking business.

"Let's get to business them." William put his omni-tool up "From this data. It shows me you work or worked with the Shadow Broker recently. Can you give me any information about the Broker?"

Liara sat silently for a while. She said again with calmer voice

"What is your business with the Broker then? Do you even know who you are talking about""

" If I do not know the Broker I would not come here and see you. The galaxy is raging with war. I will stop this war but I cannot do it alone. I need every asset for this course. Includes the information from Shadow Broker. Please, if you can talk to the Broker to come aboard my ship and work with me, I will be very-very happy." William said

Liara sighed before she told the sum of truth to William. She stood up and turned to William

"I will not hide my identity anymore. I AM the Shadow Broker." Liara revealed herself

"What?!" William said shockingly "Why-why dad or... Or his friends... They never told me anything 'bout this?"

"Your father and his friends promised me to hide my identity to everybody. Includes their families. But time has passed now. I need to let it go. I'll need time to pack my stuffs to your ship. I didn't prepare for leaving."

"We already have well-equipped Intel Room in the ship. You just need your data... And your drone." William turned to Glyph

"Oh well, that will be about other matters now." Liara said

"What do you mean?" William questioned

Suddenly the sound of gunfire had been heard from outdoor followed by loud screaming and running sound.

"What the hell was that?" William yelled

"Asari bounty huntresses. They must have been looking for me. And that's the other matter I was talking about."

"Hell! If I know this I would leave the Normandy with armor and weapons!" He thought

Liara walked to her desk, opened the drawer and picked up a pistol with suppressor. She used her biotic to project it to William.

"Wow, M-22 Silencer. How do you know I'm thinking about weapon." William caught the gun

"I know you will need something to defend yourself. Liara replied "Can you connect the terminal in your ship to mine?"

William then contacted UDI for data transferring.

"UDI, I need 's computer connected to Intel Room terminal now."

"Certainly, Commander." UDI replied

Shortly, her computer connected to the terminal.

"Got it! Liara exclaimed "It will take a long while to transfer my data. You should get out there and fight them." Liara advised

William quickly left her office and headed outside. He saw some corpses of security guards along the hallway then he heard some women talking. He took cover at the corner. He peaked and saw two asari with an assault rifle.

"Did we check all rooms here?" Asari questioned

"There is one more room to check, Dr. T'Soni's room. Perhaps she is the Shadow Broker." Another asari said

Suddenly, William took a couple shots at the asari's head. He shot another round at others left leg. William quickly walked to the one who live. He sat down and punched her face.

"Who sent you? Why are you hunting down the Shadow Broker?" William interrogated

"We... We work for Desoria Ases. I don't know who hired us. Ases is the one who gets the contract. We just do what she says" Asari confessed

"Your boss's life will not end well." William said before he knocked her out.

Then he headed downstairs to balcony. He reached the balcony and saw other bounty huntress gathering students and security guards they captured. There were about twenty mercenaries there but there also many prisoners they captured.

"So, who wants to die first?" Ases questioned the prisoners

Then she broadcasted her words across the University.

"Shadow Broker, or whatever your name is. Listen to your students and think carefully." Desoria spoke through the omni- tool

Then she put her pistol up and pointed at the prisoner

"Please, we...we want to live. Don't kill us, please!" One of the student said

"I know you heard that. If you want to save your own students, come with us. Or there will be more bloodshed." Desoria announced

Shortly Liars contacted William

"William, Ases needs to be stopped. I finished transferring my data. Meet me at the Great Hall. We can plan what to do there." William heard through his omni-tool.

William ran down through the stairs and quickly reached the Great Hall on the ground floor. He saw some security guards with assault rifles guarding both gates and injured students and professors sitting on the floor with Liara and some nurses taking care of them. She turned and saw William coming.

"Ah, Will. Thank Goddess you came. Come, come here." She walked to the table in the middle of the Hall

"Where's Glyph?" William asked

"Flying in the air and providing us the map." Liara pointed at the ceiling

Liara walked to the table and tapped her omni-tool. Shortly the map of the University appeared.

"As you can see, the whole campus is in chaos. The huntress already captured vital points of the University. I need you to retake this." She highlighted the building with tall tower next to the Faculty

"What's this place?" He demanded answers

"Faculty of Communication, it's the place where the Comm tower placed. The huntress put a jammer there and guarding it. If we are going to call reinforcements, we have to get rid of the jammer then I will send a distress call again."

"Again?" Asked William

"I sent the distress call when I finished uploading the data but the huntress put the jammer a minute after the distress call was sent."

"So, how can you contact me if there is a jammer?" William asked

"I have prototype Nuntius for asari with me. Miss Traynor just me last year." Liara explained

"Great, I hope she will release it to market soon. Did anyone get your distress call?" William said

"Yes, a team of Justicar did. They're coming. It is not enough to repel the whole army but enough to hold them from coming here." Liara said with hope

"I hope they have the Justicar with tech ability because I'm not good at tech." William demanded

"Oh, They will have technician for you, don't worry." Liara replied

Then the back door opened and six asari in graceful red armors, armed with varieties of weapons came in. William saw one familiar face.

"Justicar Samara?" William said

"What a surprise. Meeting both Admiral Shepard's son and the information broker in the same day." The Justicar spoke

"Thank the goddess you are here, Justicar. I need your Justicars to hold the huntress from coming here.

"I followed your advice by entering the sewer to avoid detection but I see that the situation is very bad. Is there anything we can do?"

"I need your team to hold the huntress from coming here and I also need Justicar who specializes in tech to come with him." Liara pointed at William "He is about to retake the Comm tower and get public communication back online." Liara requested

"Then Jerina is the right tool for the right jobs." Samara called "Jerina, come over here."

The asari walked to Samara and bowed her.

"How can I serve you, my lady?" Jerina asked

"This man is going to need your help. Follow him and give him an advice when he asks." Samara said to Jerina

"You're Commander William Shepard, aren't you?" She looked at his clothes closely but she couldn't find the famous N7 logo

" Yes, it's me. You do expect someone in N7 armor, don't you?" William chatted with her "So, an asari with tech ability? That's unusual."

"Actually, I have both biotic and tech abilities but I prefer tech." Jerina replied

"Quite "odd" but never mind. We should go now." William headed to the upstairs

"Wait, Contact me again once you're in the Faculty. I will navigate you to the Comm tower." Liara said

Then William and Jerina left the Great Hall and headed to the Faculty of Communication immediately.

Faculty of Communication, 1132 Hours

They arrived at the overpass between buildings. Most buildings in the University have overpass for students to travel to other places faster. William went in saw a view from the overpass. Distant Blue sky and the busy city of Serrice made William missed his home. He also recalled about his father's adventure in the ship Purgatory.

"The view is beautiful. It reminds me of my dad's adventure. He walked in the tube like this in the Blue Sun's ship to get his new "crew"."

"I heard the human often says "Like father like son". Is this what I should say?"

"Yeah. By the way, mind if I ask some personal question?"

"Shoot." She replied

"What's your life stage? Matron?" He question

"Actually I'm Maiden. My age is 127 but I've been in so many battles and they made me grow up. I fought with the Reaper for… I'm not sure how much time I fought them. I was "trainee" when the war started. I was born in remote colony but I came to Thessia when the Reaper came and devastated everything. I met Samara when I arrived." She answered

The overpass was short and they reached the Faculty in short time. They stepped into another great building when Liara contacted William.

"William. I presume you're in the Faculty now. At 46th floor, I think."

William turned and saw a number 46th on the white wall.

"Yes, we need direction to Comm tower, please." William demanded

"The overpass to Comm tower is on the 50th floor. You need to get up there by stair and then you will see overpass on the left. You should get there quickly. But beware heavy resistance when you're in the tower" Liara gave direction

"Can't we use the elevator?" William asked

"No, the huntress has taken control the elevator system already. Stair is your only way." Liara denied

"Fine, I hope no one gets in our way. William out." William cut the communication "Let's go. We need you to get up there and fix the Comm."

William started moving to the stairs in front of them and Jerina followed him closely. They walked up one floor when they suddenly saw two huntresses talking in front of them.

"Hush, walk quietly. We don't want to alert them, do we?" William alerted Jerina

Then they walked to the next floor swiftly and silently. They reached the 50th floor safely and they got to the overpass to Comm tower.

"Liara, we are on the overpass to the tower now. Where are we heading next?"

"To the control station. I recommend you to prepare for some resistance once you reach there. Go straight and then you will see an intersection. Head left and follow the path. You should get there in no time." Liara gave direction

"Loud and clear, auntie." William replied

The two walked and followed Liara's direction. Shortly they reached the door with Asari Script on it.

"What does it say?" William asked

"The Control Room. We've reached our destination. Let's go!" Jerina replied

"Wait!" William forbid "UDI, is there anyone inside?"

"I detect four asari life signs inside, Commander. You should be prepared for resistance." UDI reported

"Thanks," William drew his pistol "Jerina, are you ready to get in?"

"Ready when you are." Jerina brought out the omni-tool and tapped

The door opened magically then William entered the Control Room. There was four asari inside. They were monitoring the panel.

"Put your hands up!" William yelled at the huntresses

One of the huntress turned. Expected massive krogan, instead, they saw one human and asari were pointing pistol and submachine gun at them

"Look at this! The human and his "girlfriend" think they make us scare!" one of the huntresses teased

"Do you think we scare you, bitch?" Another huntress put her gun up

William and Jerina nodded to each other then they fired their guns rapidly. The noise of gunfire was quite silent but it did not make the lives stay alive for longer. Shortly 4 lifeless asari body lied on the floor still.

"That's it for now. What's next?" Jerina looked at the bodies

"The jammer is disrupting the public communication. I need you to shut it down." William picked a transmitter up from the huntress ear.

"Team Athame, this is Goddess. We heard gunfire. We will send a team to aid you. How copy, Team Athame?" The asari voice said

"Damn it! Hey, can you go talk..." William whispered as quiet as possible

"Team Athame, Team Janiri is coming to your position. Goddess out." Asari cut the communication

"Shit, They're coming here. Can do anything to not let them in?" William yelled

"Even if I close the door they will override it and get here." Jerina replied "Just watch my back while I handle the jammer is enough."

William looked at the corpses and touched the huntresses' soft, cold bodies to find the loot.

"What is this? The Zealot shotgun. And the EYE mines?" He smirked

He picked a shotgun and some small land mines from the body and swiftly walked out. William returned to the overpass entrance to look for possible ways for the huntress to enter. It was slightly dark but he was still able to see and hear everything The fleet of foot made the loud sound from below. It came from downstairs.

"I can smell the bad guys' smell. Need to be more careful." He thought

William turned and threw some of his mines then took cover. The round, tiny mines made some metallic noise and alerted the people downstairs.

"Hey, is someone there?" The woman's voice shouted from below.

William did not reply. Instead he held his shotgun firmly and prepare to pull the trigger when the mines explode. And shortly, BOOM! The mines exploded. William suddenly turned from the cover and aim shotgun. He saw four asari laid, their bodies covered with blood. The sole survivor screamed with pain. The asari saw William pointing shotgun at her.

"You are Team Janiri, aren't you?" William interrogated

"We...We are. We are just a forward team. The whole team is coming from below and you won't live to see tomorrow."

William put his pistol to her head and finished her. He immediately searched the bodies to find additional loots.

"What do you have? Other mines and... What's this." He picked a small, red box

He opened and saw red dust. William immediately realized what the dust was.

"What the hell is this? Minagen X3? Shit, they are not common bounty hunters but full crime syndicate!" William yelled

Suddenly he heard another fleet of foot coming from below. It was louder than the fleet before. He planted some mines before he returned to the Control Room to check for Jerina.

"I'm back. How goes the jammer?" William asked

"Done, I disabled it. We can leave now." Jerina replied

"Good, do not worry about the huntress. I planned some mines so don't worry about them." William said

William then contact Liara about the jammer.

"Liara, The jammer has been disabled, you can send a distress call now." William contact through his communicator

Thanks the Goddess. Meet me at the Great Hall and we will talk about Ases. But beware of the huntress." Liara warned

"No need to worry, auntie." William replied with confidence  
"Why?" Liara asked

The explosive sound had been heard by William. It brought joy to him

"That's why, William out." William ended the contact "Let's go."

Shortly after they walked their way to the Great Hall, While they were walking, William heard another footstep sound. It came from behind. William turned and saw unexpected thing. Another pack of huntress. They opened fire suddenly. William and Jerina ran and tried to lose them.  
"You said there's no worry about them!" Jerina blamed William  
"I didn't know they would taking serious about hunting us down!" He replied

The chase went on and they were in the middle of the overpass to the Great Hall. William stopped and fired his pistol few shots at the huntresses to delay them from crossing the overpass. Jerina crossed the overpass but she waited and tapped her omni-tool.

"William, I'm closing the gate. Hurry, come in!"

William stopped firing and ran as fast as he could to reach the other side. The gate was closing very quickly and almost hit the ground. William then slid and reach the other side.

"That was a close call." Jerina reached out her hand

"Right." William grabbed her hand and stood up " Let's go, the doctor is waiting."

The duo walked away from the overpass and entered the Great Hall.

Great Hall, Serrice University 1155 Hour

The Hall was almost the same but with more injured people inside.

"More injured. The huntress never mercy anyone, do they?"

"Exactly and they must pay." William said with rage

They approached Liara at the holomap. Samara was there too.

"Ah, William. Glad to see you two in one piece." Liara greeted them "We were talking about the plan to assault the University Square, the huntress stronghold. Ases is likely to be there."

"So what's your plan?" William asked

"Luckily, our position is close to the Square so we can reach the Square quickly. I've spread the security forces to ambush places and distract the Huntress. They are waiting for my order. I've sent the distress call and the reinforcement will arrive from just behind the Square."

"And they will have no way to escape. Perfect strategy." Samara commented

"What's their ETA?" William questioned

"5 minutes." Liara answered

"Alright, what do you need me to do?" William asked

"William, I need you to go with me and confront Ases together. When we do this there is no turning back. Ready to do this?"

"The Justicars are always ready." Samara replied

William thought for awhile and answered

"I'm ready. Call your men." William answered confidently

Liara tapped her omni-tool and called the security guard outside.

"We are ready to go. What's the situation at the Square?" Liara contacted her

"The Huntresses are gathering the hostages at the Square, we are awaiting for your order." The asari said

"Begin the assault. Cause as much mayhem as possible. I will be there shortly." Liara gave the order

Then Liara, William and the Justicar left the Great Hall to confront the Huntress.

University Square, Serrice University 1158 Hours

The University was in chaos. The fightings could be seen and sounds of gunfire could be heard everywhere in the Campus. But the most aggressive fighting was at the University Square. William and his comrades arrived at the battlefield.

"War changes everything. Even peaceful university can turn to bloody place." Liara commented

"It's hard to believe but it's impossible to avoid fighting in civilian places." William replied

Suddenly, They heard woman screamed loudedly.

"ENOUGH!" The woman screamed

Then the gunfire stopped and calmed the situation down.

"What happened? Why the gunfire stopped?" William asked

"I think that was because of this." Samara pointed

William noticed an asari stood up on the platform which he recalled as Desoria Ases.

"We know that we can't win this by conventional fighting. I requested the duel to find the victor and loser."

William stared and turned to Liara.

"Should I go into the duel?" William asked

"If you think you can defeat her, then you should. It will be an honorable duel." Samara answered

"You should not really go duel with her. You are not in armor and Ases is a trickster. I know she has something to cheat on you." Liara warned

But William didn't listen to Liara's warning. He walked to the square, the crowd stepped aside. He shortly arrived and stood in front of Ases.

"I will duel with you." William said

"You're confident. Let's see if you can take… THIS!" Ases shouted

Ases threw William away with her powerful biotic. William stood up and mopped his blood on his mouth. He saw something unusual. Her biotic aura was very violet and William felt that something was not right. William grabbed his shotgun tightly and tried to charge again.

"Weak human!" Ases unleashed her biotic again.

William was thrown away again further. He knew something went wrong.

"Something's not right. Let see if she has anything to cheat." William thought

He stared at her chest and saw a small red box at her belt. He recalled it immediately as it was the same box as he saw on the huntress's body.

"Minagen X3… I knew she would not play with me fairly. But how am I going to harm her if I only have shotgun and crappy silenced pistol?" William said

William heard a voice and interrupted him.

"What's wrong? Are you going to give up so easily?" Ases insulted

At that moment William felt like a flame burning in his body. He also felt that killing Ases would like water extinguishes the flame.

"Well, against all odds then."

He tapped his omni-tool and chose the omni-sword tool. He wielded his omni-sword and drew his pistol.

"Useless. You better give up before your soul leaves your body." Ases said

Suddenly, William charged up. Ases unleashed her power again but he ducked all the time. Soon, William jumped up and was about to stab her. Ases released her biotic. She used her power pushed him but he has already opened his shield up. Omni-blade stabbed right into her chest. Purple blood bled from her mouth. Her chest was also soaked with blood.

"I… I have nothing to say… You did good. Looks like cheaters never really prosper, do they?" She said her last word before she laid down and bled to death.

William closed her eye and looked at Ases's goons.

"Well, all of you're gonna go to jail." He said as he heard gunships sound behind him

Police's gunships flew to the University and filled up the sky. The cheer of joy and scream of happiness loudened.

"Yeah!" One of the student screamed

The police came in and arrest the rest of the huntress, secured the University. Then the University was quiet once more. But William remained with Liara in the Square to check the casualty.

"William, if you did not come here, the University will be worse than this." Liara said

"Looks like everything is fine now. Will you come and help me, Shadow Broker?" William asked

Liara didn't answer instantly, instead she quiet for a long while.

"Alright, I see that the galaxy do need this Broker again, then I will help you, my dear."

"Splendid, meet me at the Space Port. I'll bring you to my ship."

"Give me some time to pack my belonging."

"I hope you won't get lost, aunt."

"I'm not that old!" Liara punched softly on William's arm

Liara walked away from William. He laughed a bit. Shortly there was the sound of feet behind William. He turned and saw the Justicar behind him. Quickly, William turned and talked to them

"Oh, I…I didn't see you coming. You are going back?" He asked

"Yes, we are needed in other places. Justicars' lives are always active. Anything you want, William?" Samara said

"I… eh, I want to say thank you for everything here. Especially Jerina. If Jerina didn't help me, I can't get rid of that jammer." William thanked them

"It's my pleasure to help." Jerina said

"So long, William. I hope our paths will again soon." Samara said before the Justicar walked away

Shortly William left the Square and headed to Space Port.

Intel Room, Normandy SR-3 1300 Hour

Karl and William walked with their new crew to Intel Room.

"... And this your room, Dr. T'Soni or should I say "Shadow Broker." Karl said "I didn't expect the Broker to be an asari. I thought the Broker would be "smaller"."

"Your yeoman is "odd". I missed Traynor." Liara commented quietly

"Huh, just ignore his jokes and you will be fine." William replied

"Ahem, are you going to listen to me?" Karl interrupted

Liara and William turned and listened to him

"Go on, Karl." William said

"This is the Intel Room. All of your information will store here in the Intel Terminal. The room has already been decorated by your belonging… And the drone." Karl pointed at the corner

"My name is Glyph, ." Glyph said

"Glyph huh. That's unusual name for drone, but never mind." Karl pointed at another terminal "If you get anything useful for upgrading, it will be stored at this, Upgrading Terminal. Commander can review it and upgrade ship, shuttle or even your teammates from many choices." Karl explained "By the way, you can enjoy the nice vista from here because it was the Portside Observation Deck."

"Thank you, Karl. But I need some privacy with the Commander."

"Alright, I will leave three of you...alone." Karl said and laughed

William and Liara didn't use much time to figure out why he laughed. Glyph. The drone stared at them curiously.

"You can stay here, Glyph." Liara commanded "Now William, what do you want to talk to me?"

"Our ship need to be upgraded soon. Especially the drive core and it needs a lot of minerals. Can you use your network to gather and bring them here?"

"I'll contact them. It will take some times to finish. You should gather your own while my agents gather them for you." Liara replied

"I know I can count on you, auntie." William said

Then Liara walked to the terminal and started typing.

"Glyph, contact my agents in Terminus System. Tell them to contact all mine owners and smugglers. See if they have some spare mineral for us." Liara said to Glyph

"That's the start. But I'm satisfied." William said happily

"It's good to work in the Normandy again. Even it's not the original nor the SR-2. Oh by the way, I've read some Alliance's Intel and I find it..."inaccurate". I can provide you additional information about people in your dossier. But it will cost some credits. My agents use everything to get information, includes bribery." Liara said

"Noted. I'll leave you in solitude now." William left

William walked out of the Intel Room and headed to the elevator, prepared to end his day in his bed. Suddenly, he was interrupted by UDI.

"Commander, the Chief Engineer requested to meet you at the Engineering." UDI said

William was a little bit upset but immediately erased the feeling and headed down to the Engineering.


End file.
